Grail Quest
by ss.sonako
Summary: The Holy Grail. Dirty yet filled with temptation. Sweet yet devoid of feeling. Cruel and heartless. The curtain between seven Masters looking for the wish granting artifact risen once more. Strength may allowed a piece to live longer, but it won't never be enough to free it from the board. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Two sided awakening**

Yatogami Yuzuru never quite get the other party's insistence on back alley dealing. He had no qualms about the direct transaction in order to build trust. Just as old people didn't believe in online shopping, those in charge of Opium club only considered this type of covert dealings the proper mafia ways. Though he couldn't find any reasonable explanation about their particular preference other than one too many session of watching the godfather.

Nine in the morning. This alley was considered the Opium's turf, so there normally was rarely any passerby save for the junkies strolling around like zombies. But today even those were absented. This made the alley unusually quiet. Suffocating, even.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long, as a black car slowly approached around the corner. Then came Julian, the boss of Opium club, as well as his right hand man alongside his two bodyguards.

They greeted each other in a friendly manner, but no matter how hard he tried, Yuzuru couldn't just chalk their expression up to stomach pain or some equally silly reason. They were smiling broadly, but their eyes seemed evasive. These actions didn't escape Yuzuru, but he could only sigh in his mind while hoping Julian won't have any strange ideas.

"The mutual destruction of the other two group is a prime chance. As long as you focus in penetrating the market while cleaning up the strays, it'll take less than a month for the Opium to become the leading force in Chicago underground dealings. As for a perfect monopoly, that'll depend on your mettle."

Decided it was sufficient enough for introductory pep talk, Yuzuru touched on the main subject: "Anyhow, the remaining fee is three hundred thousand in cash."

"Of course. Of course."

Julian signaled his underling. One of the bodyguard stepped forward, in his hand was something covered in fabric. Judging by the size of the package and its mass, there should not be any problem.

"Please open it. I don't want to leave with a pack of scrap papers."

The underling looked at Julian for instruction. The latter nodded. He took out a knife and cut across the layer of fabric.

When Yuzuru directed his eyes towards the package, Julian drew his gun: "I have no choice. Forgive me, Snake."

Yuzuru could no longer skirting around the issue. The meaning of their strange expression had been made crystal clear!

"Please, Julian. This is no joking matter." Yuzuru smiled wryly, trying to kept his voice calm and rational. "No need to ending our partnership on a bitter note just over a measly three hundred thousand. That is not temperament of a great man who is about to rule over the underground of Chicago."

The three behind Julian also drew their gun, screaming at Yuzuru. Negotiation was no longer an option. In the blind of an eye, their heads was separated from their body. The cut was so clean it seemed as if it was the surface of glass. Not until several seconds latter did the bodies actually collapsed and blood started to spill.

Look at Julian's hand, Yuzuru lamented: "Was it worth it, losing your family over some pocket money?"

* * *

Kamisu Koreyume lazily opened her eyes to the sound of the phone vibrating against the table, playing her favorite song. It took a whole five seconds for her to reached out for the phone while still in a half awoke state, refused to leave the comfort of her blanket.

"Still early." She mumbled.

It was just a little over 5:30 am. She turned off the alarm and once again answered the call of her slumber.

Her moment of bliss was short lived, however, as the sound of the alarm rang again. And she would reach out to turn it off again. Her struggle, which happened at five minutes interval, went on until 6:00. Koreyume's mind reminded her that this was the last of the alarm. In other words, she could close her eyes blissfully and the next time she opened them, the date would hopefully advanced by one.

In the end, she decided against it. Mustering as much enthusiasm as possible, she left the comfort of her bed. The cold she felt when her bare feet touched the wooden floor helped her mind regained it clarity. Today was an important day.

If one were to describe the apartment Koreyume was staying at, they would say something along the line of spacious but empty. Contrary to what others might expect from the home of a young woman, she didn't possess any more than living necessities aside from an old CRT television. She bought it on a whim and now it had become her habit to listen to whatever for some white noise when she was doing chores.

Today too, the only noise was the sound of she eating a chocolate bar for breakfast and the news. It was something she had heard over and over recently. A series of suicide by poison with no apparent connection between the cases. The media had no choice but to attributed the reason to stress. It was just a coincidence that a lot of them chose poison to carried out the act. Or so they said.

 _How impatient._

Finishing her subpar meal, Koreyume turned off the television.

* * *

The package hit the ground with a heavy sound reminded Yuzuru of its existence. With Julian's betrayal, he was certain that the package was just a diversion and nothing of actual interest. But...

"It's heavy."

As Yuzuru picked it up, he confirmed his suspicions. The package did not have the expected weight for what was susposed to be scrap papers.

The outer layers was really papers, but after he discarded them, he discovered a metal plate. It was apparently the reason for the weight. There was but a single sentence written on it: 'take the call.'

Yuzuru was assaulted by a bad premonition. He couldn't quite put his finger on how or why, but his instinct told him he was caught up in bad news.

He rushed out of the alley, surveying the area. There was only one public phone in the vicinity. The phone rang when he approached, as if it had been waiting for him.

"Nice to meet you, Gambling Snake. Or you'd prefer Yuzuru?"

The other side of the line was the voice of a man, one that Yuzuru was unfamiliar with.

"And who am I speaking to?"

Instead of answering his question, the man went on: "My initial plan were to hire a bunch of random thugs and play the boss directly for you, but you are a hard man to chase. In the end, I have to sacrifice the Opium club for this chance."

His mind returned to the scene of Julian's dying words: 'I have no choice. I'm sorry, Snake.' Now he finally understood the meaning of their expression. It was not betrayal, it was a look of apologies and resignation.

"In other words, you are my true customer?" Yuzuru asked in a cheerful voice.

"You could say that. Not to mention, we share a pseudo fellowship you know."

"Oh, how so?"

"I've been tracking the man known as Gambling Snake for years. You are a criminal mastermind for hire, and consider teasing others your side job. As for me, my true calling is that of a priest, while I'm a criminal mastermind as a side job."

"Why are you describing my hobby as something so childish?"

"It's better to be childish from time to time, you know. If I'm going around parading as a 'messenger of God' all the time, I'm going to look like a lunatic."

"Interesting. You have a point there."

"I'm glad we came to an understanding. By the way, you can call me Johann."

The man threw his name at Yuzuru as if he just happened to remember it. Of course, Yuzuru had no way to confirmed whether this was his real name or just an allias, but considering the frivolousness when he disclosed his name, he felt that Johann had no reason to lie.

"Listen, Johann. At the moment I won't ask about how did you find out my identity, nor how did you force a group of mafia to do your bidding against their will. As far as I'm concern, the only reason we're still having this conversation is that I'm still three hundred thousand dollars short."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Yuzuru laughed: "That'll depend on your answer."

"Let me guess, if I refuse to pay, you will come and use the 'poker of demise' to force the money out of me."

"It was one of the options I'm considering, yes."

"Good. Let's save the both of us some time. My church is currently at Chicago, the address is at the other side of the metal plate. Let's talk some more when we meet."

Without waiting for a confirmation or even a reply from Yuzuru, Johann cut the call. Yuzuru shrugged. Spinning the metal plate around, he walked toward the car left behind by Julian group. After all, they won't be using it anymore.

* * *

No matter how hard she tried, her body just couldn't survive on sweets alone, much to her dismay. Since she didn't have any class in the afternoon, she could just go straight home but then she would be tempted to dive into the bed hungry. However, it wouldn't be wise to be exhausted today. In the end, Koreyume decided that powering through a conversation with the clerk is less troublesome than having to spent the effort cooking, and headed for the cafeteria.

Just as she expected, the cafeteria was crowded. She couldn't find an empty table, and had to share it with someone else. The old man in front of her was eating his soba in the corner with the expression of someone whose pet just died.

"Is this seat free?"

The man lifted his head to gaze at her for a second, then went back to his meal. Koreyume treated that gesture as a 'yes' and sat down. She was a little uncomfortable at first, but soon the existence of the man was lost to her. She had heard people said that a meal tasted better if you have someone to share them with, but she didn't find any particular difference from eating alone.

Only when she reached for a chocolate bar did she remember him. Out of courtesy, she offered him one.

"Do you want some? People said that eating chocolates makes you happier for some reason."

"Phenethylamine." The man said with indifference.

"I'm sorry?"

For the first time, Koreyume felt that she registered in his eyes. He slightly scowled: "Phenethylamine acts as stimulant for dopamine and serotonin, thus provide effects akin to 'runner's high'. In chocolate, it is produced by the thermal processing of cocoa. Biology sciences should be a standard course for all medical students, how come you didn't know this type of basic information?"

"...I major in forensics."

Now that she took a careful look at the man, she noticed that despite being in his seventies, the air of a sharp intellectual haven't left him. Judging from the way he was dressing in full suit and tie, he was probably a professor. However, Koreyume was positive she never saw him before.

When she voiced her question, the man acted a little surprised: "You don't know me?"

"You are a famous person?"

"Not at all." He said in a cold voice. "I'm just an old man forced to retire in this overly glorified nursing house."

"Isn't everyone working their hardest for the time of retirement? You should be enjoying the fruits of your labor up until now."

"I neither have any fruit to my labor nor the rights to enjoy them."

Seeing that the man didn't have any intention of touching the chocolate bar, Koreyume took it back and opened it after finishing hers. The man looked at her silently. In his eyes, she could see the sorrow of loss. She wondered, did she has the same look in her eyes, because the man proceeded to ask.

"You have something in your mind, too?"

Koreyume licked the chocolate bar, a certain idea began to form in her mind.

"You first."

She said, but the man just shook his head with a wry smile. She decided to pressed him on.

"We both have something in our mind, and more importantly, are strangers that unlikely to meet ever again. Why not get it off our chest? Maybe we'll feel better after hearing about the other's misfortune."

"What bad taste you have, young girl."

"Its only considered bad taste when only one side is giving to the other. When both are giving and receiving, its just banter." Koreyume shrugged while the man remained silence. Once again, she took that as his confirmation. "I'm about to join a battle royale to the death with the whole Tokyo as battlefield."

"You should take that kind of information to the police."

She shook her head: "Commenting is against the rule. Your turn, old man."

The man hesitated for a while. Eventually, he decided to go along with her whimsical idea: "I have something I still need to do, but I was forced to quit. If I refuse, then it will be a real nursing home for me."

"My parents passed away. I held onto them and hurt them deeply."

Koreyume was already prepared to run away if the man were to look at her like a lunatic, but perhaps he remembered her no comment rule, or he was deep in his though, the man didn't seem to paid her strange wording any mind.

"It was my fault that a lot of people lost their lives. Because of my stubbornness, a lot of good people die. My most brilliant student as well as the wife of my son was one of them."

"I deceived myself and people around me. So I have no choice but to cling to a miracle for hope."

"I threw away my life and got nothing in return. Even a miracle can't give me a future."

Both of them sank into silence. It was unknown how much time they spent just staring into empty space without making the lightest of sound.

She smiled sadly: "My future is already set in stone without another option."

The man said softly: "My hope had long died."

The silence visited once again. Koreyume stood up with a sigh, shaking her head: "That was a lot more depressing than I expected."

The man chuckled and waved his hand. That was goodbye for them.

* * *

On the way, Yuzuru tried to imagine what kind of place Johann was at, but he was drawing a blank. Never in his dream would he associated priest with bookstore, but here he was, in front of one. Behind the door was a flip sign with the 'CLOSED' side facing outward. Still, he pushed the door opened.

The inside seemed to be a lot more spacious than looking from outside. The first thing he noticed was the smell of leather and paper. There were books everywhere. Stacked on every bookshelves, on the desks, and even the floor. Yuzuru even doubted whether or not he could make it to the table without stepping on some scattering on the floor.

Johann was sitting behind the table, reading a book with one hand and stirring his coffee cup with the other. The manner he carried himself gave Yuzuru the impression of a movie star fell out of favor and turned to drugs.

"Interesting church you have here."

"It was just a personal hobby." Johann looked up from his book.

"Let me say this first hand. You have better luck robbing those homeless hobos living under the bridge than me if its money you are looking for."

As if to demonstrated his point, he pulled out a drawer. Inside it was a half bitten slice of pizza and the remains of an unfortunate mouse having to served as the meal of some unknown creature. Yuzuru was tempted to stuffed the content of that drawer down Johann's throat. The latter continued, undaunted.

"However, I believe I could provide you with something far more valuable than three hundred thousand dollars. Why don't we start by 'how did I find you'?"

He gestured for Yuzuru to sit down and poured him a cup of coffee. Johann began his story.

"This dated back to the massacre of Shinjuku. One month before that night, a group of people contacted me. They had good personel and equipments, as well as military backing so I thought this would be an easy catch. Unfortunately, the place they infiltrated was your home. As luck would have it, Katerina Bright was with you. At that time, I thought of you two as nothing but innocent bystanders caught up in a crime. The communications got cut pretty quickly after they entered. No hesitation, no mercy and no survivor. That was the crime scene left behind by the man latter known as Gambling Snake."

After hearing the name Katerina, Yuzuru no longer had doubts about Johann's credibility. He took a sip of the coffee: "Now that you mention it, there really was a group of unidentified assailants."

"The way I see it, there are two types of perfect crime. First..." Johann raised his finger. "Detailed planning, perfect execution and suitable dealing of the aftermath."

He raised his second finger: "The second is do it first, think about it latter."

"I made my living as a criminal mastermind, so you could say I've mastered my craft regarding the first type. However, even Moriarty could only went so far. That because he could never reached the second type. The most direct and simple of crimes. A case of hit and run, night assaults or pickpocketing all belonged in this category. If the culprit ran away and avoid repeating their crime, even Holmes would have trouble finding them out."

"Are you bragging that you found your way to me despite that?" Yuzuru said.

"Nothing of the sort. The opposite, in fact. Failure to find you despite all the years had been one of my greatest regret. It was not until you encountered miss McRemitz recently that I begin to grasp a clue. The next part is your favorite. How exactly did I find you?" Johann finished his coffee, then pointed at the books piling on the table. "In this book store, each book represents one person. I can see the innermost thoughts of everyone that is not an esper or magus. This is my source of intel."

"Are you saying that you have more than seven billions books in this place?"

"Why are you limiting your logic by space and quantity like normal people?" Johann lightly tapped one of the book. "When I open this book, the name of it could be John Doe, or it could be Mary Sue. When you look at the book in my hand, you might fail to notice that the pile of book didn't decrease in the slightest."

Yuzuru nodded: "I see. Is it your esp, or is it magic?"

"Forgive me for not answering, Snake. But that question crossed the line."

Johann refilled the coffee for both of them: "Let's continue now that the complicated parts are over. You might not known, but miss McRemitz belonged to a powerful organisation called the Mage's Association. However, magus or not, a person can't live in society without coming in contact with one another. The passerby on the streets, the shopkeepers that she came in contact with, those who do business with them, those who do business with those who do business with them. In the sea of humans, I could monitor anyone and everyone."

He concluded the story: "After learning of your appearance, I quickly think of the young man involved in the massacre, Yatogami Yuzuru. And you know the rest."

"So what is your next move after going through the trouble to find me and telling something so scary in that nonchalant tone?"

"I want your cooperation, of course. I believe that story is enough to prove my sincerity."

"It's weird. You said it so politely yet all I could hear is 'I want to use you for my scheme'."

"It's good you are so quick on the uptake. Cooperation, mister Gambling Snake, is each side using the other until there are no more benefits to be have. Then we go our own way."

"You really have an interesting point of view. Still, I need to hear what you have in mind first."

Johann laughed, as if he knew Yuzuru would take the bait: "Unlike you, miss Katerina Bright was not as elusive. No, it would be better to say her favorite prey was normal humans. In other words, I could easily traced her steps."

Yuzuru didn't say anything despite the sudden change in the subject, but he silently urged Johann to continue.

"And there was a common point. They all spoke about a 'contract' with miss Katerina. A contract that could defile the rules of this world."

Johann finally revealed his trump card: "You did it with miss Katerina. You made a contract with her."

Yuzuru silently clicked his tongue. Ever since he stepped foot into this place, for the whole time, Johann had been playing with the hand of both side revealed while he was still stumbling to figure out the game. It was almost close to a total defeat from the start.

"You have been searching for a something that can undo the contract for a long time, haven't you. That's why you didn't back down when miss McRemitz came to retrieve the monkey's paw."

Yuzuru recalled his unfortunate encounter with the magenta hair woman in black suit. The situation got ugly quick and he was lucky to got away with his body intact, all thing considered. Naturally he had to surrendered the monkey's paw to that woman.

"There exist a magic ritual to summon the ultimate wish granting artifact. The Holy Grail War. I need you to win the Holy Grail for me. In return, I shall undo the contract for you when that time come."

"And if this Holy Grail is as ultimate as you say, what's stopping me from using it to undo the contract?"

"Nothing, provide you can win the war without my help that is. I can assure you, those involve themselves in that war are all at miss McRemitz level. Your esp is nothing more than a measly party trick to them. Not to mention the Servants."

"You're not the type of person who would use an ace at the expense of a potential partner when you can win with a two." Johann pushed the book he was reading when Yuzuru first came in forward, the fake smile on his face was particularly irritating. "This book is title 'Yatogami Tohka'. You can take it as a gesture of my goodwill. You can pick any other one if you like. However, only the first time is free of charge. Any question?"

"Where do you fit into the food chain between the pizza, the mouse and the unknown creature?"

"...Now that you mention it, it's a matter worthy of thought."

They talked for about two more hours after that. When Yuzuru went out, he headed straight for the airport for the earliest flight to Japan.

* * *

Three in the morning. Even through the rain coat and layer upon layer of clothes, the heavy rain drops still hit Koreyume's body like pellets. Needless to say, it was a waste of money to buy the incense in this heavy rain. Removing a few strands of hair sticking to her face due to the rain, Koreyume felt somewhat thankful. In this weather, unless they were standing as close as roughly ten meters, there was no threat of being seen. And even then, it would be easier to mistook her for a ghost rather than a person. Not that there would be anyone at the cemetery at three am to began with. She bowed one last time before her parents tombstone. There was a hollow rectangular shape area on the surface. She had taken her catalyst for the summoning ritual out from it.

It was a wooden writing scroll from ancient China, the type that was frequent in costume dramas. It was titled 'Book of Dragon Slaying'. Koreyume spread the book and put it at the center of the summoning circle. Her eyes darted over the familiar words of introduction.

 _'Seven books scatters over the world, given to those who happens to come across. It would be most joyful if the owner could master the subject in each volume."_

Koreyume interpreted the meaning of these words as there were seven such volume in this world, each belonged to a subject. Whoever find these books are free to learn the knowledge written within. For example, inside the Book of Dragon Slaying was physical technique, from health improvement exercises to simple martial arts. No doubt there was something more advance later on, but Koreyume couldn't read it. Nevertheless, this was something magical in nature. It was long after Koreyume obtained it did she noticed most of the content of the book was concealed and gradually revealed. In this case, she assumed it was based on the level of her physical prowess.

"Sorry, Guiguzi-san. I didn't manage to learn a single thing." She muttered.

The signature of this book belonged to Guiguzi, a genius of no equal in the warring state period of ancient China. From military tactics, martial arts to science and the way of the occult, it was said that there was nothing he didn't know. Even something he claimed to had only 'dabbled' in, it was plenty for a person to use in their life time.

Most notably, he was famous for his generosity in sharing his vast knowledge. No matter the background, as long as someone was willing to learn, he was willing to teach. Of course, how much they could learn depended on the individuals. Maybe that was the reason for the 'joyful' part. Unfortunately, as a magus, she wasn't able to progress far in the field of martial arts.

Using the book as catalyst, Guiguzi was the servant Koreyume hoped to summon. A bolt of thunder struck as she said the incantations out loud. The howling of the wind and rain became too much for her to bear, until they finally subsided and she could make out of a figure of a person.

Her first impression was that she failed. Her second impression was that the servant she summoned was a work of art. The woman stood in front of her was the very image of a master artist's ideal image given life. There was armor on her forearms and her calfs, but other than that, she dressed lightly in normal clothes. In each of her hand was a long spear. There was no doubt concerning what her class was. The fairy like silver haired beauty stood amidst the rain, her beauty and dignity forced Koreyume to drew a breath, forgetting her surrounding.

"Who... are you?"

"Servant Lancer, Zhao Yun. My courtesy name is Zilong. It's an honor to meet you, my Master."

Lancer bowed down. It was not who Koreyume expected, but even she knew of the peerless warrior made famous by the Romance of the Three Kingdom. The Zhao Yun depicted in the book was a man, but she felt it was just trivial irrelevant detail.

Lancer picked up the book on the ground with a nostalgic expression. It was left ravaged by the mud and the rain, and while it didn't seem to be damaged, it was dirty. However, Lancer didn't hesitate to wipe the book with the clothes on her arm. Koreyume doubted even newborn baby could be that treasured by their mother. Her mind immediately made the connection.

"This maybe preposterous, but might I suggest we move elsewhere for our introduction? I'd like to avoid having the crystallization of teacher's knowledge be left in this state any further."

That was the starting point of Koreyume and Lancer's relationship.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** I want to try using an unreliable narrator to tell the story the way they perceive it, therefore I use two separate perspective. Hope it's not too disconnected for your liking.

Comment and criticism are always welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Two sided awakening (2)**

Dan always found the news about terrorism incidents interesting. The terrorist group publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, while the government tried to distance themselves from being held responsible as far as possible. It never failed, like clockwork.

When a plane crashed, someone claimed responsible. Begrudged by countless people, he was vilified for generations to come, even after his ashed had long gone cold. When a train crashed, the government announced it was due to thunder struck.

Well... It didn't matter whether the general populace believed it or not. The important thing is Dan did.

Two in the afternoon, even though there were still high value checks in his house, Dan was driving to the bank. Someone once joked that if the standard of living won't change, Dan had enough to enjoy a luxury lifestyle without having to work till the end of his life. Of course, that assumption didn't account for extreme inflation in the next thirty years or Dan somehow managed to live until he was two hundred years old.

Even so, coming to the bank every month for his retired pay was a habit to Dan. He used the chance to calculate the expenses for the next month, as well as saving. Using car with low fuel consumption, only went shopping when there was a discount for home appliances... Dan had maintained this frugal lifestyle of a single man for more than twenty years.

There was already a line of five or six persons at the counter when he arrived. Dan quietly stepped behind the last person despite a nice woman offered for him to take her place as a consideration to his old age, but he refused. Waiting was something as natural as breathing for him. Even in this idle state, he showed no sign of impatient or his focus wavering.

Bang! Bang!

Someone fired two shot aimed at the ceiling, followed by people's terrified screams. Then of course came the text book line: "Get your ass down on the ground and shut up! You there, and you! Show me what's in your hand!"

"Don't try to be a hero and nobody gonna get hurt!"

...

There were three robbers dressed in black jacket and ski mask, judging by the voice and their build, all of them were grown man. This didn't seem like a crime on impulse, but rather an elaborated scheme by hardened criminals. Two man were holding shotguns, while the guy in charge of the money had a hand gun.

On the other hand, the customers and the bank staffs total to no more than twenty, it was not hard for the two in shotgun to had all of them under constant surveillance. Not to mention they were unarmed and in a panic. The two opening shot was superbly done in order to control the atmosphere.

While the robber with the hand gun forced the staff to put the money in a bag, one guy approached a woman and her child. When the sound of gunshot rang, she hugged the child and forced him down the ground, using her body to shield him. But it didn't stop the child crying. It seemed the sound of him crying had irritated one of the robber.

"Please... He's just a child." The woman pleaded with the robber.

"Get him to shut up or I'll made him!"

Dan was not far from the scene, but he didn't raise his head. It was as if he didn't care about the murder about to take place in front of him. If his posture suggested anything, it was that he hoped to had nothing to do with the commotion, and that the robbers get their money and set them free soon.

The sound of crying grew larger. Ran out of patient, the robber screamed: "On the count of three! One!"

Dan eyes dashed over the mother. Her face was dyed with fear and despair. She didn't stop pleading with the robber, while her gaze seemed to be looking for help from the others in the lobby.

"Two!"

Dan charged at the robber. Since he was not far behind from the robber blind spot, the attack was successful. Not only did it surprise the robber, but also his two other accomplices had no time to react.

Dan and the robber was struggling on the ground, the four hands fighting for the shotgun. The two rolled around but neither could hold the other down or escape from the scuffle by themselves. Since their positions were constantly switched, the other two couldn't just shot Dan to free their accomplice.

Their fight continued for ten seconds, then the sound of gunshot rang again. Bang. It was not clear who pulled the trigger, but the gun both Dan and the robber were holding open fired. Be it a case of bad luck or divine retribution, the stray bullet hit the other robber holding shotgun three meters away and blasted away half his head.

The sound of the body hitting the ground was accompanied by the sound of people vomiting at the gruesome scene. But the danger had not passed yet.

The guy with the hand gun shot his accomplice, hoping that the bullet would penetrated both him and Dan. Thanks to the sudden pain in his back, the robber in front of Dan screamed and lighten his grip. The gun was fully in Dan control now.

He fired without hesitation. At close range, there was no need to even check. The power of the shotgun certainly killed the robber without fail. Dan ducked, still used the dead body as shield. The remaining robber emptied his magazine, turned around intended to ran away. Dan put the barrel on the dead guy shoulder and pulled the trigger. The right kneecap of the robber turned into minced meat. He screamed one last time and lost consciousness.

The whole bank was silent save for Dan's heavy breathing. Even though he was trained, this kind of close range struggle was not what he specialized. Furthermore, the years had taken a lot from the man vigor. He turned to the stunned guards.

"Call the police and ambulance."

The whole incident ended just as sudden as it began. The time from the robbers fired the first shot until Dan charged at the first guy was roughly four minutes. It took less than a minute from then on till the last of the robbers felt down. Forty nine seconds to be exact.

* * *

He was dreaming. A dream of the distant past. It was not his, but his Master's. There were decorations everywhere on the street. Snow. Everything was disconnected and blurry. He couldn't even make out of the passerby expression. They either hurried to returned home to their family, or meeting their loved ones for a romantic Christmas date. He had expected his Master to be the type to draw in others from all directions with just her appearance alone, but it seemed he was mistaken. None of the passerby even as much as bat a glance at her.

The sound of a coin falling caught his attention. Surrounded by the blurry street, only that single one yen coin came into his focus. It hit the ground, bounced a few times, then started rolling down the street. Until its momentum was cut short by a pair of shoes.

An uncouth youth approached. Amidst the sea of people whose face he couldn't make out, the youth features was as clear as a real person. At the moment, he eyes was darting all over the ground, it seemed like he was the owner of the coin.

Seeing the coin was not lost, he cried out happily: "My last bit of fortune."

He bent down to pick up the coin. Seeing that the person stopped his coin hadn't move, the youth looked up to face his Master. He didn't know how long in the past was this, but his Master gorgeous appearance was exactly the same as she was today.

The youth seemed to be under her charm also. He smiled: "Looks like this day isn't the worst after all."

"You are unlucky?" His Master asked in perfect Japanese, there was no trace of accent in her voice.

"Your Japanese is very fluent."

The youth question was logical, judging by his Master strawberry blonde hair and emerald eyes. Even the way she carried herself gave off the air of a foreigner. She nodded, the thin layer of snow on the ring of her hat scattered in the air. Now that he noticed it, his Master must had been standing in this weather for a long time.

She said again: "You still haven't tell me, are you considered yourself unlucky?"

"You tell me." The youth shrugged, rubbing his hands together to staved off the cold. "I just lost every yen in cash and credit I had save for this one yen coin. To be honest I don't even know how did it come to my possession."

His Master said coldly: "Losing a gamble mean you are unlucky? Then the world must be full of unlucky people."

"The element of 'Luck' doesn't exist in this world. Even if it does, a gamble never depends on it. Same goes for anything in life."

His Master's gaze moved from the youth's face to his hand. She lightly raised her eyebrow. Slender fingers, but underneath them he could see considerable nimbleness.

"You are confident in your gambling skill."

The youth smile: "I could buy it for you with the money I won using this one yen coin tonight."

He pointed at a large mansion in the distance.

...

He expected to find his Master in the library. She had gone through a great deal to secure a mansion that could accommodated her collections even just for the duration of the Holy Grail War. Since this was the only place she frequented, even more than her bedroom, it was the only room with any semblance of warmth in this whole mansion.

However, today she wasn't there. She was sitting alone in the darkness of her bedroom. Looking at a painting with a loving expression, she didn't even seem to notice him when he knocked on the door. He vaguely remembered seeing it before. It was always covered in the corner of the room, so he didn't know what the painting was until now.

It was a painting of a woman sitting beside the window, a small white cat resting in her laps. The stroke was crude, but he could tell the painter poured all of their love into it. It was a painting of his Master.

"Is that you, Assassin?"

"It's nighttime."

His Master nodded, still didn't move her eyes away. Him having a dream about her past and her sudden change of mood probably wasn't a coincidence. It seemed like these dreams were a two way street.

When he told her the content of his dream, she laughed and turned towards him for the first time.

"Surprisingly you and him might have better chemistry than with me."

"I beg to differ." Assassin said coldly.

Yes. Similar to him, the youth in her dream didn't believe in the element of luck. However, there was a fundamental difference between their beliefs. The youth was obviously confident in his skill, while Assassin believed that things like 'luck' and 'intuition' were merely the whispers of the Lord interpreted differently by the listeners. Now that he thought about it, it explained the distaste he had been feeling ever since he woke up from that dream.

His Master laughed again, stood up and stretched herself. Looked like she had been sitting in that same posture for a long time. He took the chance to ask about the content of her dream.

"It something remind me of the painter." Was her answer.

"The same one in my dream?"

"No. There was another one before him. A victim of his own circumstances." She said with a mischievous tone. "Similar to your better half."

Assassin felt like he dug his own grave there. Just as he dreamt about the subject of her affection, she dreamt about his. Thankfully, she didn't want to dwell to much on this matter. Glanced at the painting one last time, she beckoned him outside while pulling a card holder out from her pocket. It was not the first time Assassin had seen it, but he was taken in by its preciousness all the same. The cover seemed to be made out of solid gold, with a circle of mysterious diamond symbols engraved in. Strange thing was his Master never showed any kind of discomfort despite carrying it on her all the time. Either it weight was altered by magic or his Master was unnaturally strong for a person of her build, Assassin was more willing to believe in the first possibility.

"Now then, my Assassin. What kind of soul do you want tonight?"

"...A young man."

* * *

Dan sat in his home, watching the boring news on TV. The last few days he had been laying low, rejecting any and all request to curious visitors and interviewers alike. As a result, his presence on the media had started to fade. Gave them one more week, and they will had a new story. Perhaps they also sensed that he was a difficult person, the number of calls and gawkers had been reduced significantly these days.

Suddenly, the expression on Dan's face changed. He stood up and moved toward the door without a sound, his posture as if a large predator ready to pounce.

Two knock. Short and powerful. Dan didn't expect the other side to just knock, but his intuition told him that it was not someone from the media. He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"I won't be accepting any interview."

"How about meeting an old friend?"

Dan's pupil widened. It was the voice of someone he knew. Just as he expected, Jack Charlton was standing at his doorstep. The middle aged man greeted Dan with a weary smile, his hand clutching a suitcase tightly. Judging from the dark circles under his eyes, he must had spent at least the last twenty four hours without a wink of sleep. Dan hurried invited him inside.

Dan poured them a cup of tea. On the table was an unremarkable black book. It was the only thing in the suitcase previously in Jack's hand. Dan looked at the other man questioningly.

"Long time no see."

"How are you?"

"The last few days were quite unpleasant."

"I'm afraid I have some more bad news for you." Jack gulped down the cup of hot tea in one go before continued. "The line of the Harwey have not died out yet."

The news came for Dan like a thunder struck. He remembered the last mission he carried out in the name of the Queen before he was allowed to retire. The extermination of the Harwey family. A purge carried out by the military in secret, an ugly power struggle all in the name of the good of the country.

"Who was it? The elder brother that got shot in the snowfield, or the younger brother that got threw from the eleventh floor?"

Jack cracked a smile, but to Dan, it looked more like he tried not to cry: "He lost most of his bodily function due to brain and spine damaged. Even so, Leonardo Bistario Harwey is quite determined to have his revenge against you."

Dan understood. With his body in that condition, to Leonardo there was not any chance to continue the so called noble line of the Harwey. Therefore he channeled his will to live and the family wealth into the rage against Dan.

"You came to warn me of this?"

"Actually, someone entrusted me this to give to you." Jack gestured to the book on the table. His tone was clear that once the delivery was done, he will be out of these muddy waters.

The word 'someone' certainly interested Dan. Was it the Queen who wanted extent her help once more in reward for his services? But what good a book will do for him?

"I... don't know."

"You don't know who ask you to bring this to me?"

"Does the name Johann ring any bell?"

Dan shook his head. A single name was too vague to recall. He needed more information before he could made an educated guess. Jack thought the same, as he continued.

"He ran a book store."

Once again, Dan was drawing a blank. In hope that Dan thought of something useful, Jack began to recount his meeting with the man known as Johann.

...

Roughly a week after Dan encountered the bank robber, Jack stood at the door of a certain bookstore at Chicago. Just as he was about to opened the door, it was burst open from the inside. Four guys in black suit walked out, in their hand was some kind of package.

"What are you looking at?" One guy with a large build shouted.

Jack just backed away, both his hand in the air. He didn't know the reason for the other party's irritation, and it was not worth it to have a confrontation. He walked into the messy bookstore.

The owner was sitting behind a desk at the center of the room. The closed door behind his back seemed to be his living quarter. On his left hand was an expensive looking coffee machine, probably the thing that worth the most in this entire room.

"Mister Johann?" Jack asked with uncertain voice.

Johann was about to opened the book in his hand, but after hearing his voice, he just sighed and sip his coffee while gesturing for Jack to sit down. Of course, there was no other place for him to sit other than the piles of book. He picked a relatively flat looking pile.

Johann opened his drawer, looking at Jack with the eyes of a dead fish: "Pizza?"

"No thanks."

Johann gazed back at the content of his drawer: "How about some local delicacy?"

"I'm sorry?"

"These things have amazing amount of protein, and probably tasted like chicken." Johann sound like he was making a sale pitch to some unsuspecting housewives. "I can even microwave it for you if you want."

Even though he couldn't make out the thought behind the other man expression, Jack sixth sense from the time he served in military sniffed something was up. It was screaming some kind of warning he couldn't understand just yet to his mind. Therefore, he declined again, this time more firmly.

Johann muttered something and slammed his drawer shut. Jack took the chance to look around while throwing a random pitch.

"Who was those guy just now?"

"Them? Just the Opium club."

"With the way they dressed, people would think they are with the mafia. Is that the popular fashion for doing drugs these days?"

Johann said with indifference: "They are the mafia."

Jack swallowed what he was about to say back down his throat. Johann threw a newspaper down the table.

"Don't worry, they are not your business. It's this."

Jack studied the newspaper. The entirety of front page had been used to report about a failed bank robbery and the hero who singlehandedly dealt with the assailants. Jack could felt his breathing quicken. He knew this man. From many years ago. Dan Blackmore, close confidant of the Queen.

"What about him?"

"Soon, his enemies from the past would come for him. But this time the young master of the Harwey will bring a force he could never hope to match on his own." He picked up the book he was reading when Jack came in. "This book is title 'Leonardo Bistario Harwey'. Bring it to Dan Blackmore to even the playing field. You could read it on the way if you want. It'll have some use for you in the future."

Jack received the book with a questioning expression. Finishing his coffee, Johann added.

"By the way, you should not try to come back to this place when you're done with Dan. You must have heard of Gambling Snake, yes. He will learn of this place soon. Knowing his personality, anyone who come into contact with this bookstore after that might be in danger."

Another name that Jack known of and wanted nothing to do with. Johann yawned and walked to a nearby shelf. He seemed to be looking for something. The man muttered: "Nineteen century... Electric appliances... Here it is."

The man pulled out a videotape player and started to tinker with it. Seeing that he no longer registered in Johann's mind, Jack decided that it was his time to leave.

...

Dan creased his eyebrows further. The more he heard about this Johann, the more the man seemed to be an enigma. He decided to focus on the more tangible thing at hands.

"So this Johann asked you to bring me a book."

Jack pushed the book towards Dan, his voice like he was telling a bone chilling ghost story.

"Read it yourself. Carefully!"

* * *

Holidays were a bastion of human's depravity, since once every year it gave human the excuse to do something 'meaningful' in a 'special' day, while in truth those thing could be done whenever. Despite the lies about how it was to commemorate a special events or the sacrificed of some big shot, in truth they were created through the combination of 'deception' and 'tragedy'. The adults told their children: "There is a fat man in red clothes going around the world giving present"; while the men told the women: "You are the only love of my life" and the women answered: "I will be by your side both in riches and poverty." In the end, the only good came of it was that Thanksgiving allowed you the chance to be thankful even though you haven't said 'thank you' a whole year, and New year was another excuse to leave work early to return home.

The way he saw it, holidays acted as a special kind of transaction. Roses, gifts, playing nice... their purpose boiled down to new year money, return gifts or thirty seven degree hug pillow. Of course, no matter how perfect the plan was, you still could received the answer of: 'Sorry, I only consider us friend', police tickets or domestic abuse if you messed up the execution.

February 14th, Yuzuru was fixing his tie obstinately in a restroom of a high class restaurant at Shinjuku while thinking about the pros and cons of holidays in details. That was the only thing he could do to kept his mind off the fact that he was doing the exact same thing the old bastard was. Dressing up to impress someone. Even though officially Gambling Snake was considered a wanted criminal, he made no effort to disguise himself. Now that he thought about it, that was a strange phenomenon. The harder a criminal tried to avoid suspicion, the more they appeared suspicious. On the other hand, people like him could easily blended into the crowd without someone giving as much as a second glance. After all, the comment logic just couldn't accept the fact that a notorious criminal could brazenly be walking around in public.

The other party was already there when arrived at the table. His sister, Yatogami Tohka, was eating two portion of Italian desert with an annoyed expression.

"Long time no see."

Tohka sighed: "Since you were late, I ate your portion, Nii-san."

"I only got here five minutes late and you already finished deserts. This restaurant serves the food in courses you know..."

"Spare me the chatter. What do you want?"

"Can't I celebrate the reunion with my little sister over a nice meal..."

Tohka cut him off mercilessly: "As far as I'm concerned, I don't think of you as my family anymore. The same could be said for mom, seeing as she disowned you shortly after father passed away."

Yuzuru was holding onto his hope. No, he held onto his hope before she uttered that sentence. But now, he couldn't even mustered the courage to face his own sister eye to eye. He looked down as if studying the embroidery on the table cloth, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Does the second house still vacant? I need a place to stay."

"It is."

"Don't worry. I'll pay the rent properly. Haven't I been sending you money? I'm not a good for nothing anymore."

Tohka glared at him, the temperature in her voice dropped a dozen degree: "Have you been gambling?"

He waved his hand hurriedly and explained himself before her misunderstanding worsen: "No, no. I quitted gambling for good. I have a job now."

"What are you doing?"

"...Business consultant."

Technically speaking, it was not a lie. The customers and the activities themselves might be of the unsavory sort, but she didn't need to know that. He breathed a sigh of relief when her voice soften. It was still distant, but it was much better than just now.

Tohka sighed: "I'll have the documents ready tomorrow. Is there anything else?"

Yuzuru could only managed to shook his head and quickly muttered a 'thank you' before his sister immediately stood up and asked the waiter for the bill. She was even going as far as requesting to split the bill.

"There are no need for that. I'll treat you."

"No thank you. I can't accept being treated by your money, Nii-san."

She walked away, leaving him defeated. Even if he wanted to take it out on someone, he had no one to blame but himself. Not even Karen. Her contract only worked on the basis that both side gave the others something they agreed to be of equal value. She couldn't force anyone to made the contract, and they couldn't terminated the contract on their own.

In the end, it was just exactly like those cautionary tales he used to read for Tohka when she was young. Only after he sold away something he thought to be useless did he realized how precious to him it was. No matter how much effort he spent trying to made amends using human means, he will never be able to recovered what was lost by magic. That's why he had no choice but to cling to the ultimate wish granting vessel.

Looking at the empty plates and the chair that Tohka had been seating until just a moment ago, Yuzuru reaffirmed his conclusion. Because he had no family to spent them with, holidays were truly a bastion of human's depravity.

* * *

At first glance, Dan thought it was an elaborated prank. He felt suspicion reading the first few pages, but it quickly turned to horror the further he went. Aside from the shocking content, there was another point of interest. The thickness of the book and the number of the pages didn't match. Unless he had been hallucinating or his eyes was playing tricks on him somehow, from the look of it, this book couldn't have been more than two to three hundreds pages. But when he counted the number by flipping through the pages in rapid succession, it quickly surpassed three thousands. Strangely enough, the number of pages he turned didn't affect the thickness of the book at all, either visually or physically. It was similar to the concept of 'the next second'. You knew it was coming but you could never grasp it.

Even though he knew of the wonders humanity achieved during the information era, such as a single file on the computer could store as much as half a library, the paper book he was holding in his hand couldn't be explained with modern science. The content weren't restricted by the thickness was outside of the realm of physics, and the fact that it was depicting the thoughts of another person was outside of his imagination.

Holding the book, Dan didn't stop Jack when the latter wanted to leave. Dan understood the meaning his old friend was hiding in his eyes. Maybe to Jack, the only thing that could give him some semblance of relief was the death of Dan and Harwey reported on the news. Perhaps the man known as Johann also.

The more he read the book, the less the suspicion in his heart remained. The book was trustworthy after all. From childhood to the teenage years to adulthood, the life of a person over twenty years filled with innocence, thrill, lust, anger and hatred was written on the pages. Naturally, there were also moments of conscience, regret, empathy, mercy and even true and honest love. The thoughts and actions of a person was a unpredictable and contradicting variable.

This kind of thing couldn't be fabricated even by Harwey himself, much less by anyone else. The only possible explanation Dan could find was that this thing belonged to the occult. On the other hand, he also had the problem of Johann identity to considered. What role did he play and what purpose did he hold. Those are the questions that visited Dan's mind.

Nevertheless, it was not the most important thing. There was only one thing he needed to do now that it had came to this. Kill. Finished his duty from years ago. Before the opposition had the chance to kill him themselves.

According to the book, gathering his fighting force wasn't the only thing the young master of the Harwey had been doing. He had also been sharpening his sophistication. For a person who was denied most of the basics of his bodily function, his intellect and will was the thing keeping him alive at the top until now.

When Harwey woke up, the purged had ended two days ago. The state of his mind in that period was extremely unstable, as if he had gone insane. The wounds he suffered on his body was too much to bear for any other person, much less a young and healthy noble. It would be more merciful if his will broke down there and then.

But as a cruel trick of God, he regained his reasons. He turned his grief into drive, carved the face of Dan to his mind, hid the fact that he was still alive, left the country and avoided direct contact with all others. All of this was just to find Dan and made him experienced the same pain.

Dan sat at the same spot reading the book of Harwey's inner mind the whole day. He didn't skip any page, even the parts which seemed random and unimportant in the thoughts of a person. He had now obtained the necessary information to made his move. Harwey's goal. The Holy Grail War. Even his Servant identity.

Dan closed the book and stood up. It seemed like these old bones had to accompanied him to one last war. This time, not between organisations or nations, but seven individuals.

* * *

Yuzuru was sitting alone in his hotel room, a small piece of wood in his hand. In front of him was the scene of a makeshift summoning circle. The only thing left to do was using the catalyst Johann gave him to summon his Servant. But he had not make even the slightest of movement ever since he finished preparing the circle.

His mind was not there. He was imagining another him from above, in another dimension, watching the events surrounding the character called 'Yatogami Yuzuru', similar to one would looking for hidden plot points in a movie. Then he imagined another from an even more vantage point of view, watching the first observer. His palace of reasoning was constructed by these three layers. It was Gambling Snake's favorite decision making method.

 _'What would he do when Johann betray him?'_

To answer this question, he need to know the moment Johann will made his move. The state of both side of the board.

 _'When would be the most advantageous moment for Johann to betray him?'_

It was not a question of 'if', but 'when'. Even with all the information at hand, could he really predicted the movement of the man with access to unlimited sources of intel at any moment, all of which could not lie to him. Yuzuru recalled his first and only meeting with Johann so far. Whether due to the latter carelessness or over confidence, he had already been given a hint.

 _"Cooperation, mister Gambling Snake, is each side using the other until there are no more benefits to be have."_

When will Yuzuru be of no use to Johann. What was the latter end game. The Holy Grail. Then was the moment Yuzuru won the Grail that moment Johann would revealed his hand. No.

 _"My initial plan were to hire a bunch of random thugs and play the boss directly for you, but you are a hard man to chase. In the end, I have to sacrifice the Opium club for this chance."_

The Opium club was only his backup plan that he had no choice but to went with. Johann was neither omnipotent nor omniscient. He boasted to achieve perfect crime through 'detailed planning, perfect execution and suitable dealing of the aftermath'. Even with all the information in his hand, he could never plan something that could disregard two other factors. That was why he sacrificed the Opium club. Because he didn't believe he could pull off the perfect execution in the face of Gambling Snake.

Then what was the execution he needed of Gambling Snake this time. The war. No. Not the war itself. Johann was not above doing the dirty works with his own two hands. Once again, the same reason applied. But in this case, someone in his position would be much more potent in the Holy Grail War. The key was neither information nor fighting prowess. Why would he needed to involve Gambling Snake, who didn't even heard of the Holy Grail War before. Why would he readily provided the promise of a strong Servant. The Servant.

"...Was he unable to summon a Servant for some reason?"

Going along with this theory, Johann would either forced him to forfeit the Servant he just summoned, or killed him outright and stole the Command Seals. It would be simple for Yuzuru to just walked away, but he also strongly coveted the Holy Grail now that he had learned of it existence. And the Servant Johann went through so much troubles to obtained would be no doubt strong. Which outweigh the other, the risks or the interests. A gamble.

In the end, he made his decision based on the flow of their first meeting. He couldn't win this gamble as long as the other side held all the cards while having the knowledge of his hand also. He needed to play a card Johann from outside of Johann's expectation.

Yuzuru put the wooden piece back into the bag and put it to the other side of the room. He could just destroy it, but it was not yet the time to destroy their thinly veiled 'corporation' completely. The ritual Johann taught him should be safe to use, but at this point he better not took any chances just for safe measure.

He pulled out his phone, looking for a prc file called 'Book of Demon Subjugating'. Just as he expected, knowledge about rituals he couldn't read before starting to made sense before his eyes. Rearranged the ritual according to the instruction in the book, he began summoning his Servant. Since he didn't have any other catalyst, this summoning was also another gamble. But he was rather made the bet on his own than playing Johann's game.

He certainly felt it. A sting when the Command Seals appeared in the back of his right hand. His Servant had arrived.

"Lewis Caroll had decided to grace yourself with her presence." The teenage girl said haughtily. Her golden hair flowed straight to the middle of her back. "You may called me Caster or 'your majesty'. The later happens to be my personal recommendation."

There was a slight miscalculation in his plan. You could exchange the bad cards in hope of a better hand, but the same couldn't be said for summoning a Servant.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Did I say two perspective in the first chapter? I totally lied. We have two new perspective, but we are still at the setup phase. I'm sorry if the story is progressing slowly with these low action chapters, but it was important for the character arc and their development so I just couldn't gloss over it.

See you next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Illegal Move**

Koreyume didn't know happiness could come from such small yet thoughtful gestures. Today too, she woke up to the sound of her ringtone, but it didn't seem to be a struggle like before. Perhaps it was thanks to the warm towel someone dutifully put at the side of her bed, or the comfortable feeling of the fleece slippers at her feet, rather than the cold floor. The sight of her mother worn out slippers did darken her heart a little, but Lancer thoughtfulness were not at fault.

Nevertheless, it would be best if she bought a new pair soon. Lancer might wanted one also. Last night, when they headed back to her apartment after she summoned Lancer, the both of them was soaking wet by the heavy rain. Since it was unpleasant to do any kind of talking in that condition, they both decided it would be the best to postponed it to the next morning. Koreyume was thankful Lancer let her used the bath first. Even with the raincoat she was shivering. Her body had been feeling heavy ever since she woke up. The fatigue did not come from her usual morning troubles nor did she catch a cold from being drenched, but because of Lancer. To be completely honest, she felt like some one occupied half the nerves in her body. According to Lancer, she should get used to it and got back her normal strength in a day or two.

The light in the living room weren't on, but Lancer was there. She was drinking a cup of coffee while switching the channel on the television with disinterest. Seeing this, a certain thought crept into her mind. Would Lancer be interested in costume dramas, particularly those that had the time period when she was alive as a setting. Koreyume made a mental note regarding this idea. This would be a nice little payback for her insistence to stay in material form, despite the extra mana consumption.

Lancer noticed her immediately and turned off the tv. Koreyume wished she didn't do that. It had been a while since she had a serious talk with anyone in total silence without any sort of background noise. She tried to start with a light joke.

"I see you've learned how to use the water heater."

Lancer blushed lightly: "...Please forgive me for my blunder yesterday."

Yesterday night, before she got in the bath, Koreyume entrusted Lancer with making them some hot drink. Since Lancer claimed that being supplemented with knowledge about the current era was part of being summoned as a Servant, Koreyume carelessly taken her words at face value and trusted her. As it turned out, knowledge did not equal to experience. It was not until all the light in her apartment suddenly when off when she was enjoying her bath did Koreyume learned this fact. She did not know what exactly Lancer did with the heater, and the later refused to disclose it adamantly.

Similar to yesterday night, Lancer was drinking black coffee. Koreyume was happy seeing Lancer had developed a taste for it. Seeing Lancer was someone from the warring state period, she feared that Lancer would be driven to battle after battles, stopping at nothing until she reached the Grail. Someone like that would be hard to live with. Koreyume did not have a need for someone like that, she only wished for someone whose she could share small and simple moments of happiness with.

She sat down to the opposite of Lancer with a 'Good morning'. The latter answered in kind while pouring her a cup of coffee. Koreyume didn't have the habit of drinking coffee in the morning, but she had nothing against it either. Once again, she accepted her Servant's goodwill. It tasted good, albeit a little too bitter than what she used to. She didn't believe in putting feelings in cooking made them taste better, but there was indeed a distinct difference between the coffee Lancer poured her and the coffee she made yesterday for some reason.

She took a sip of the coffee, relaxing herself. Lancer stared at her silently, not saying anything. Koreyume understood. Lancer was waiting for her. Waiting for Koreyume's words as her Master.

"So, I'm guessing you found this when you were alive?"

Koreyume gestured to the Book of Dragon Slaying rolled up neatly on the table. She intended to put it back to her parent's gravestone last night, but Lancer advised against it. Although for completely different reasons, the book would be of no help to the both of them. Maybe Lancer didn't want it to be left in such a place. Seeing that she called Guiguzi 'teacher', it wasn't hard to make a guess why was she summoned using the book as a catalyst. Still, Koreyume wished to hear it directly from Lancer herself.

"Yes. Thanks to the knowledge left behind by teacher, a small girl like me could stand shoulder to shoulder to the famous generals whose strength know no equals."

Lancer smiled nostalgically. Similar to Koreyume, she found the book and attempted to study it. Unlike her, however, Koreyume could feel that Lancer certainly did make the old man 'joyful'. She could see it with her eyes, Lancer was very strong.

"Just for reference, do you have any idea about the about the other books?"

Lancer cocked her head lightly with a 'hm'. It was a cute gesture, but the silver haired beauty managed to make it even look graceful. She put her cup down the table and began recounting with her hand.

"The Book of Dragon Slaying is currently with us. Aside from it, I have only personally saw one other in person. It was titled the Book of Divine Calculating. It recorded teacher's divination and fortune telling technique. Coupled with her natural talents, the owner had been able to made use of it to achive feats of terrifying degree. As for the other ones, I only knew some of them was about, while clueless about others. These are..."

Lancer continued to listed them one by one, each time raising one of her finger. Even though her knowledge about it was limited, it was much more than Koreyume hoped for when she asked that question randomly. Aside from the other two, there were five more. Koreyume couldn't help but think of the Holy Grail War. Was the number had some meaning and relations, or was it just the occult were universally in favor of the number seven.

The Book of Demon Subjugating. Knowledge of rituals, charms and artifacts.

The Book of Ancient Healing. Lancer didn't know the exact content, but it was easy enough to guess from the name.

The Book of Heaven Flowering. The record of science, physics, arts and crafts he discovered in his life.

The Book of Unrivaled Rampaging and an unknown book which Lancer had no information of. These came to a total of seven.

They fell in the hand of people from all walks of life. Some prospered thanks to having found it, other just let the knowledge wasted away. So in retrospective, it was the worst kind of catalyst she could had used to summon Guiguzi, as they were associated with countless others throughout the passage of history. On the other hand, since Servants were basically heroes of great power, even if it was any other person, they might still made for a satisfactory Servant. Lancer was the living proof.

"The owner of Divine Calculating even used all her power to try and find the last book once, but she never succeeded." Lancer concluded the topic. "Were you disappointed, Master?"

Koreyume frantically shook her head: "No, I could see you are very strong. And a nice person too."

Lancer didn't say anything, but stared at her with great interest. Koreyume took a deep breath. She had debated over this topic with herself when she gone to bed last night. In the end, she decided to tell the truth. Because Lancer was trustworthy, and a gentle person.

"I... can see. Ghosts, spirits and the likes. Not only their form, but also their thoughts and attachment. Anything about them." After a long pause, she added. "Even Servants'."

Lancer's eyes widened: "Mystic Eyes? I see, that's explained the location for the summoning."

Lancer made the assumptions that she was a necromancer. Naturally, seeing that it would be the most beneficial school of magecraft for someone with her eyes. In truth, Koreyume chosed the forensics department because she could practically achieved results effortlessly too, outside of written tests. But it was wrong.

"I have no knowledge of necromancy. I doubt I could even be considered a proper magus."

Yes. Koreyume used magus to referred to herself, simply because she didn't know the proper word for someone like her. She had no education in magecraft, nor a magic crest. Her family was a normal family in the first place, with no background in the occult. The only difference was that Koreyume was spiritually sensitive, thanks to her eyes.

She smiled: "To be honest, I feel more like an esper. ESP is something you were born with, while magecraft is something you learned."

Both were skills like any other, and took time and practices to achieved and maintained a level of excellence of course.

"I'm relief." Lancer's voice was soothing. She smiled when Koreyume looked at her questioningly. "I was afraid I might have to cross the line and reprimand you strongly if you were to strengthening me through necromancy."

Right. Koreyume forgot. Servant was a kind of spiritual being as well. As a results, while Lancer did consume human food, a Servant's food was souls and minds. Food might be an inappropriate term to described it, as they were neither essential for a Servant survival, nor their abilities diminished in anyways if they didn't consume any. But the more resources you had in a war the better. In fact, attacking others was an acceptable tactic in the Holy Grail War, as long as they were done in secret outside of the public eyes.

Thankfully, the chivalrous Lancer wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, she was even willing to reprimand Koreyume if she were to suggested such a thing. For the first time, she felt genuine grateful having summoned Lancer as her Servant.

"Don't belittle your abilities, Master. The owner of the Divine Calculating had similar eyes to yours, and she was the greatest person I met in life. I'd say with me as your Servant and you as my Master, our victory was already set in stone." Lancer mused, seemingly lost in her memories. "...Though her eyes seemed to be stronger. Not only was she able to see, but she could control the spirits also."

"...I can too." Koreyume kept her head down, stared at the floor. Her voice turned into a small whisper that even a person sitting beside her would fail to catch.

"...Master?"

But Lancer certainly heard it clearly, because she had gone dead silence. It was different, but at the same time her gaze remind Koreyume of the old man whom she had that random chat at the crowded cafeteria the other day. They were both non judgmental. Lancer put down the cup and leaned over the table to embrace her.

"Even when the world condemn you, I alone as your Servant will not." Lancer whispered into her ear. "There are no way someone like you, who can understand pain that others can't even see, is a bad person."

Was it Lancer true feeling, or was it just the words she thought Koreyume had wanted to hear the most? She had no way to confirm it. But she decided to believe in the Servant, no, the person she just met for a few hours, just as Lancer decided to believe in her. And Koreyume began to tell Lancer everything.

About the young girl who could see things other couldn't.

About how she did not feel anything even when she received the news of her parent passing. After all, they were right beside her the whole time.

About how her life got turned up side down when she realized it was her loneliness that trapped her parent's spirit, denying them the chance of reincarnation, heaven or hell. They were just following her around until their soul deteriorated into nothingness.

And finally, her wish for the Holy Grail.

Even after she had long gone silent, Lancer didn't loosen her embrace. It must be uncomfortable leaning over the table in that posture, but Lancer kept holding her tightly. The warmth of her Servant was comforting. Koreyume didn't know happiness could come from such small yet thoughtful gestures. But in this moment, it was certainly happiness that she felt.

* * *

The woman with the flaxen hair easily crushed the lock with her bare hand, her steel boots made clanking sound as she approached. She was wearing a red uniform, black skirt and a black overcoat strapped loosely on her shoulder. The young woman appeared to be hurt, seeing she had bandages on her right arm, but Dan knew better than to judge these beings by their appearance.

"Leo said capturing you would improve his mental condition."

Dan sat still. He couldn't hope to match the woman in both strength and speed. Now that he saw her up close rather than as words on Harwey's mind, he understood that she was strong. He made his preparations before he went to Japan of course, but fired the opening shot blindly before he knew what the opponent was capable of would put him and his partner into disadvantage.

"Is it worth the price of letting you brazenly attacking me in broad daylight?"

"To avoid others being hurted unnecessarily, I decided to come for you alone."

Should he say as expected of a Berserker. She ignored her Master order and preparations willingly and came for him. Even though they exchanged words, it was clear that none was getting through to the other. To Dan, the woman in front of him had truly been driven to insanity by the devotion to her cause. It made her unpredictable and dangerous. Harwey not using his Command Seal to stop her from coming alone made it even easier for him to dispose of her. Even though the war had not officially began, defeating Berserker here would mean that nothing could stood in his way of finishing Harwey off for good this time.

"Don't worry. I will treat you, so be nice and not give me extra work by trying to resist."

Dan pulled out a hand gun from his pocket and empty the magazine. The bullets headed towards Berserker's head, chest, stomach and knee. They all hit their mark, but Berserker didn't seem to be hurt. Naturally, hoping that mere gun would defeat her would be optimistic. That was just the opening shot to startled her, as well as warned the civilians who heard the shot to clear the vicinity. However, aside from Berserker, he heard no movements nor screams after the gunshots. It was strange, but he didn't have the luxury to care about that now. Berserker, unharmed by the bullets, reached out for Dan with inhuman speed.

 _"If you listened to me from the start, we wouldn't be in this situation."_

He heard his Servant voice, who hadn't leave his side ever since Berserker entered the room in his mind. What he said was true, but too late for that now.

"It can't be help. I was hoping at least Harwey would act on his nobility and respect the rule of the war. So me what you are capable of, Saber."

Saber materialized in front of him. The youth with flaming red hair thrusted his sword forward the enemy's throat. Saber's weapon was a single bladed sword more suited for slashing attack, but since they were in closed space, he chose a thrust. This time, Berserker could not afford to take the attack head on. She retreated her hand and caught the blade. Saber tensed his muscle, but even so, the force behind his thrust had been stopped by Berserker's sheer strength.

Blood dripped down from Berserker hand, yet she showed no sign of pain.

"Master, keep your distance." Saber ordered him. Dan also understood that even if he were to join the battle, he couldn't help out Saber in anyway.

Saber, however, couldn't just simply walk away. Rather, he could if he was willing to let go of his weapon, but with Berserker stood in front of him, that was out of the question. Saber twisted his body, tried to slashed sideway and cut Berserker's hand off. Seeing this, she let go of the sword abruptly. Using the momentum, Saber spun around and attacked Berserker with a horizontal slash again.

Berserker couldn't stop the attack this time. She jumped backward to outside of Saber's range and drew her gun. Using her left hand to support it, she fired back. Saber blocked the bullets with his sword. Berserker was true to her words about keeping the casualty as low as possible. It would be quicker for her to aim for Dan, but she targeted all her shot at Saber. While he was thankful for that, he was not about to go easy on her. Now that there had been some distance between them, he called for Saber to relocate to a more advantageous battlefield.

Saber grabbed his hand, and they jumped out the window. While Saber took care of the jump, Dan took out a black object and threw it at Berserker's feet. The hand grenade exploded. This should delay Berserker somewhat. Saber expressed his distaste, but he didn't say anything. They stopped at a large rooftop. Now that Dan had a view from above, he could see the empty streets. Aside from them, there were not a single person around. He suspected the same thing. Someone errected a barrier to keep the fight between Saber and Berserker secret.

The sequence of events took less than ten seconds in real time, yet Berserker had already caught up. In Dan's experience, those who mastered the use of their own body to fight were the hardest to deal with. Berserker lacked the refined techniques of the martial arts masters he met, but she more than made up for it with her strength and speed. Since she was not constrained by any particular weapon, she was free to use her body to fight as she wish.

Berserker jumped. She didn't even need to run for any momentum. That single motion allowed her to be three meters above Saber, her hand crashing down to crush his head. The strike was not something a human could ever hope to withstand. No, even Saber could not take that strike unharmed. But instead of dodging, Saber chose to counterattack. The sword moved to slash at Berserker's neck.

Thanks to his weapon, Saber had an advantage in range. In the air, there was no way for Berserker to change her course nor support her footing. She had no choice but to once again catch the blade. Still holding the blade, her iron heel came down for Saber's head again. He couldn't evade it completely and the hit ended up sunk deeply into his right shoulder. Using Saber as footing, Berserker spun backwards and landed away from him. Both Servant had been wounded in that short exchange, but Berserker could still fight without her hand, while the damage to his shoulder might hinder Saber ability to swing his sword.

But Saber once again pressed his attack instead of retreating. Disregard the pain in his shoulder, he charged at Berserker landing spot. Even before she touched the ground, Saber already launched three thrusts aimed at her head, throat and feet. Berserker was caught off guard this time, as she was slow to react. She stumbled back two steps, guarding her head with both her hand. This time, the blade wasn't caught and pierced her right hand beautifully.

His attacks succeeded, Saber retreated. The distance between them was now around two meters. In this range, Saber could attack Berserker while she needed to close in if she wished to continue her assault. The tide of battle had returned to Saber's favor.

"Isn't this enough, Berserker? Return to your Master and we will settle this when the war begin in earnest."

Saber decided it on his own. Dan wanted to voice his objection, but for some reason his words didn't come out. No, he knew the reason. The soldier in him wanted to end the business with Harwey as swiftly as possible, while the knight in him also wanted to fight in the war with Saber in a manner they could both be proud of. Maybe Saber noticed it too, so he said it for Dan, impertinent of a Servant as it might seem.

At first, Berserker didn't react, as if considering the offer. But looking at her eyes, Dan knew. Her fervor for battle had became even stronger. Realizing this, Saber clicked his tongue. Dan felt a change in the air. He was not a magus, but even he could felt it. Something in the air was being drawn towards Berserker. She just stood still, but the feeling of danger she gave off far surpassed when she was rampaging against Saber a moment ago.

Saber shouted: "She's about to use her Noble Phantasm. Move to a safe place, Master. I shall meet her challenge."

Then, just as sudden as it began, the oppressive feeling around Berserker disappeared as she relaxed. She slowly approached Saber while the later remained on guard.

"What might you be doing?"

"...Treatment." Berserker took out bandages and medicines from a backpack behind her back. It was concealed by the large overcoat so Dan missed it until now. It was until this moment that Dan remembered her true name he read in the book of Harwey's mind. He never expected someone with her reputation could fight in that manner, nor there was something to be exploited, so he temporarily put it out of his mind.

Saber was also clearly flustered by Berserker's respond: "I am a Servant. I don't need treatment. Beside, if it bother you that much, then don't hurt me in the first place."

"Because you resisted."

Saber kept backing down and Berserker kept advancing. Soon he ran out of space to retreat to unless he jumped down from the roof and left Dan alone with Berserker. Saber looked at Dan with troubled eyes. Dan was surprised too. This might be the first time ever since they met that Saber acted his appearance of a youth.

"It's fine. Just play along with her for now."

Saber opened his mouth to protest, but it quickly changed to a scream as Berserker pushed him down to the ground and applied the bandages to his shoulder: "I shall remember how you betrayed me today, Master. I hate you."

Dan just smiled wryly at Saber, the tension between the three of them moment ago disappeared completely. In the mean time, he directed a question at Berserker.

"You are retreating then?"

"Leo woke up." Berserker said nonchalantly. "It would be bad for his health if I'm not by his side any longer."

Finished her treatment, Berserker moved away from Saber, allowing him to stood up and looked at Dan begrudgingly.

"Shall we pursue her, Master?" Saber asked him, but Dan shook his head. He already knew the location of Harwey's base and thus there was no need to follow her without any preparation.

The short skirmish ended with no clear victor. Even before the war began, sparks of conflict had started to ignited.

* * *

Shinjuku was a land full of wonders capable of making people fell in love. Yuzuru was not an exception. The bustling noise never once stopped throughout days and nights, the traffic jam that was certain to occur twice a day at morning and dusk like clockwork. The air was filled with the smell of polutions as well as countless small speck of dusts that could be seen by the naked eye. It made the 'smoking zone' at every outdoor cafe seemed useless, as he was certain people would rather inhaling the smoke than the air outside. Coupled with the astronomical cost of living and it became a gem in the middle of the capital, beloved to the point it could driven people living here to suicide.

It would be a waste to enjoy the early morning of such a place with the breakfast at the hotel, so Yuzuru went out of his way to find a stray hot dog stand on the street. Three hundred yen a piece. Stood behind the counter were the owner who, at a glance, ignored all sanitation standard required to operate in the food industry. Frankfurt sausages were made from unidentified pork of uncertificated origins, breads were made from also uncertificated origins, smeared with mustard and sauce fast approaching their expiration date.

Stuffing these hotdogs into your mouth, that was the fruits of labor of the populace itself you were eating and that was the taste of life. Or at least that what Yuzuru expected Caster would react. Otherwise these were just a massive waste of time.

Yuzuru thought about Caster, who was still fast asleep when he went out. The raven haired teenage girl on the bed appeared even smaller than the form she used to answer his summoning. If an unsuspecting third party were to see the sight of her sleeping on the same bed as him, it would definitely became the scene of a crime involving minor.

...

The girl in front of him was beautiful, in a sense. Her green eyes were a good match for her silky golden hair. A crown resting on the top of her head, yet it didn't give the dignified image of a queen, but rather a pompous cosplayer. She was wearing a sleeve shirt which showed off her bare shoulder. The front of her long skirt was cut short to reveal the black stockings, while the back remained unchanged and was made to look like the lower part of a cape. All crimson in color. That type of look was crazy popular to a certain demographic. But more importantly, the way she dressed herself and the name Lewis Carroll reminded him of a certain red queen in that famous book.

"Um... Please say something, Master. It's pretty embarrassing to be in this pose with no respond you know." Still looking down on him with her hand on her hips, Caster continued to spout more unreasonable things.

"I'm sorry. Since I'm not that good with history, I mistook you for a certain writer of the same name." Yuzuru said flatly. Even he could tell his voice was the voice of a man grasping at straws.

"You are not mistaken." Caster replied and destroyed his last ray of hope.

"I saw Lewis Carroll picture in literature class once. I'm sure that he looks nothing like you."

"You must mean Charles." The corner of Caster's mouth perked up lightly, but her eyes harbored a small hint of sadness. "I was his... co writer, so to speak. It was hard for a ten years old girl to have her delusions published at the time."

Yuzuru instinctively felt that if he continued this conversation, he probably couldn't have a serious look at history channel anymore for the rest of his life. But he gave in to his curiousity. A ten years old girl who was rumored to be the model for the main character of the same name in the piece that widely considered Lewis Carroll's magnum opus.

"You are Alice Liddell."

At his words, Caster's body started to glow. At first it was her hair. The long golden hair lost its luster and changed into shoulder length raven colored strands. The green pupils turned black, and her extravagant clothing was replaced with a simple blue and white dress. A complete transformation.

"It'll be much appreciated if you use my true name sparingly. The same goes for my pen name of course."

A Servant with their identity known to the enemy risks having their weakness taken advantages of. Yuzuru also agreed with this, although he wasn't sure exactly how would the enemy took advantage of Caster's identity. Combat prowess aside, the fact that she was not a hero might be a blessing in disguise.

"Caster it is then." Yuzuru also understood that there were more important things at hand than Caster true identity and her involvement with the persona of 'Lewis Carroll'. "You can do more than write a stern letter to our enemies right?"

"...Rude." Caster stomped her foot. Despite her attitude however, Caster seemed unusually excited. "I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly capable Caster."

...

As expected, Caster had already woken up when he returned. What he didn't expect was that her eyes were glued to the screen, watching the pay per view programs on television. If this room weren't the scene of a crime before, it was one now for sure. Caster was so focus on the screen that she didn't notice him approached her. Looking at the girl now, somehow he doubted those claims she made last night.

"What are you doing?"

Caster body jerked and she let out a small scream. She protested to him loudly: "Don't startled me like that, Master."

"Then don't get so absorbed watching adult program."

"You weren't here when I woke up. So I took the chance to find some new inspirations for my next work. Yes."

Yuzuru initially thought she was at the level of naively blaming the program came on by chance when she fiddled with the remote and pretend to be bad with technology. But she got some surprisingly solid defense. At least she would, if she weren't blushing crimson while breathing heavily.

"Well. Since it's for your work, it can't be help."

"...Yes. Yes. You are exactly right, Master." Caster seemed to have regained her composure. But he didn't give her the chance to breath a sigh of relief.

"But I never know Lewis Carroll looks for these sort of things for inspirations. Let's have a discussion over the meaning behind Alice's adventure down the rabbit hole sometime."

Caster was visibly shaken. Her head held down, she muttered: "...Let's not."

Looking at Caster acting like a frightened rabbit, Yuzuru interest deepened. Come to think of it, he called Johann description of his hobby 'childish', but that might be quite apt. He pressed her further, glee with delight over finding a new toy.

"But still, I'd expect you to be interested in erotica where you can use your rich imagination than something this low level."

Caster back shivered and she curled up even more, but he didn't miss the moment her ears perked up. She took the bait.

"By the way, I used to collect a large number of erotica as a joke present for someone who love books collection. Most of them are limited edition from renowed authors in the field."

Caster slowly turned to face him. Her calm and composure visage had been close to collapsing, the blood flowed to her face as she bit her lower lip lightly. In that one instant looking at her shyness and embarrassment, Yuzuru forgot to breath.

"Want to see?"

But it was truly just an instant. He once again held the initiative of the conversation tightly. But at the moment, even he hadn't truly realize the importance information beneath these words.

"...I want to see."

Caster surrendered to the whisper of his guidance into the darkness, spoke the words she considered the lowest point of her life: "I want to see those erotica."

Yuzuru laughed out loud, meeting Caster's glare head on and said flatly: "But I refuse."

That was his fatal mistake. Corner the other person using baits to heighten their interest, then mercilessly smashed those delusions away was a typical tactic. The problem was that the other party was mainly normal humans and even espers and magicians were nothing he couldn't deal with. Smooth sailing over the years had dulled his sense of danger.

Until the moment the enraged Caster pounced on him. Yuzuru was fully reminded of Johann's warning. Servants were beings far surpassed humans. Even if said Servant looked like a weak teenage girl and belonged to a class that had little to do with physical prowess. Even at E rank, Caster's strength proof to be more than enough to overwhelmed him. It's a pity he remembered that fact too late.

That was the only thought flashed through his mind when he saw Caster charged at him with tearful eyes. Yuzuru forgot to control his volume for a moment and screamed for his dear life.

"I know I know I know! I'll let you see them! I'll let you see so stop choking me! Are you trying to kill your Master. I'll use a Command Spell if you don't stop."

"The worst. You are the worst worst worst."

Caster who seemingly turned into Berserker was jerking his neck back and forth with her iron grip. Yuzuru mustered the strength from his whole body but he could neither get her to loosen her hand nor moved away from his body. Before barbaric force, words and schemes all became useless. He thought he understood the meaning of these things when he became a criminal, but now he was once again experienced them with his body.

Of course, he couldn't really wasted a Command Spell here nor use force against his own Servant. Actually, it would be more precise to say that he had nothing effective to use against his Servant. So Yuzuru resorted to how he dealt with his sister when she threw a tantrum. He reached out his hands for Caster's cheeks and pulled them. If he weren't being choked, he would totally laughed at the shape of her face right now.

His satisfaction left as quickly as it came, as he realized once again it was the wrong move. Caster clearly wasn't thinking straight. There was only one thought on her mind, getting back at him. And she did that by follow the saying 'an eye for an eye'. Ignored Yuzuru who was playing with her cheeks, she stopped choking him and went for his cheeks. Judging by her strength, she might actually be able to rip them off.

"What do you think you're doing, you perverted literature girl." Since physical restraints weren't effective, he once again went for mental attacks.

"Shut up shut up shut up."

* * *

Assassin was prepared to shoot down the unwanted guest, but his Master stopped him. The man had a strange blank black card in his hand, his eyes darted all over the place, as if he himself wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for. Come to think of it, even though this place was acting as their base, his Master only set up the most basic of boundary field, having no use beside notified them of intruders.

His Master, however, wasn't surprised by the sudden visitor and invited him inside. With a clap of her hand, the light from unknown sources filled the hall. It gave off a warmth and gentle feeling, and of course just was a simple illusion to trick the other man.

"How can my humble self be of help, honored customer?" His Master said in a tone Assassin had never heard before while curtsied lightly. The woman whom he thought could only acted like a dignified ruler was treating the normal man in front of her with utmost respect.

"This..." The old man presented the card in his hand. "I'm not sure, but this led me here."

"Please do not hesitate to state your desire, professor Akihisa." Her voice was not loud, but the man appeared visibly shaken. It was not because she knew his name either. It was the whispers of the devil, leading those who heard it plunged to the abyss of temptation.

"I..." The old man, Akihisa said in a trembling voice. "I want, a future."

His Master reached out for the other end of the blank card, smiling gently. It seemed like Akihisa instinctively understood. He needed to give away something of equal value.

"In exchange for my soul."

"In exchange for your soul, the contract shall give you a future."

As his Master finished her sentence, golden words began dancing on the previously blank card. It was the name of the old man and his Master. Like a puppet, the light in the old man eyes turned off and he walked away to the door. Quietly looking at the back of the man, his Master put the newly formed contract in her card holder.

"Isn't it quicker to just kill him?"

"Just as human changed, so can souls. The beauty of a soul polished by it struggles through life far outweights others."

With a smile that like a bell, his Master added: "There are no way I let you eat some stray souls picked up indiscriminately."

Assassin had no other choice but to agree with her. He had been strengthened considerably ever since he was summoned. Since they went for quality over quantity, there were no need for any big scale attack, thus drawing no unwanted attention to themselves.

His Master clapped her hands together again, and the illusion was dispelled as the hall once again returned to its cold and dark reality.

* * *

The first time Caster came face to face with Yatogami Tohka, she thought her Master's sister was a very cold person. After all, even though it legally belonged to their family, her Master still had to goes through all the documents and contracts in order to be able to rent the house. From a glance she could tell that this house was treated with care, and even though according to her Master it had been vacant for a long time, it was cleaned and aired regularly. But even so, these precautions towards a member of the family seemed excessive.

However, Caster felt suspicious when the sound of a song played in the room. Instinctively, both her Master and his sister reached for their phone. The difference was that only one of them was ringing. Her Master smiled wryly and muttered a sorry as he left the room, leaving both of them with confused expression.

Why would her Master's sister took out her phone. Naturally, she thought the call was hers. While it was bad to come to conclusion through a single incident, Caster couldn't help but wondered would family member with similar taste treated each other like this. This made Caster slightly displeased. As if noticed her mood, she bowed to Caster apologetically.

"Caster ...san, wasn't it. What is your relation with Nii-san again?"

These inquiries were expected and Caster had went over it with her Master before they came here: "Just as he said, we are colleagues doing business together, Yatogami-dono."

"Just Tohka is fine." She smiled warmly, not a trace of the frosty expression she had with her brother remained. She might be surprisingly easy to talk to.

"I know this is might be out of place for me, but you should know about him..."

"Enough, Tohka-dono." Caster couldn't help but interrupted her. "I know you're speaking out of your good intentions, but the matter concerning me and Yuzuru-dono are for us to decide, are they not."

Even Caster herself was surprised with how much force she put into her tone. Tohka looked like she wanted to say something else, but couldn't find the right words.

Caster sighed and stood up: "I'm sorry for my manner. As an apologies, please accept this. I heard that these things apparently bring good luck."

Caster shoved a piece of wooden sculpture into Tohka's hand. The truth was that it was something belonged to her Master, but he tasked her with giving it to his sister when she had the chance. Leaving the stunned Tohka and the uncomfortable silence behind her, Caster headed toward the door. His sister had been nothing but polite to her, but for some reason Caster found herself preferred her Master's joking tone.

...

She found him quickly. Her Master was watching something on his phone. She wanted to get him back for earlier this morning, but due to the height difference between them, she couldn't peek from behind his back secretly. She moved to his side. He noticed it and titled the phone, giving her an easier time to look. She liked these kind of small gestures. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the content. The scene in front of her was someone getting their leg destroyed by a gun.

"What bad taste."

"The guy who got shot is the bad guy you know." Her Master answered while typing a reply on his phone.

"Even so, the guy who sent you this and the you who was watching it surely has bad taste."

"Don't be like that, I have something else you would like."

He showed her a different message. It came from someone named 'Johann'. Several others must had received the same message too. Six others, to be exact.

 _'The last Servant, Archer had just been summoned. The Holy Grail War had officially begun.'_

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Isn't this story full of people sitting around talking? I'm so sorry.

See you next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The road of revenge**

Caster was dreaming. She dreamt about the meeting of her Master with a strange woman. A woman whose name she didn't know and her Master didn't bother to ask. He and the strange woman didn't tell each other their name, but Caster could see there exist some kind of understanding between them.

Fleeting eye contact, and various expression. That was the extent of their communication. Contrary to the woman indifferent mask, her Master was expressive.

Even though he boasted that he could buy a mansion in one night, all he did was found a dirty and small bar, the kind that allowed gambling and played the whole night of poker with kindred spirits.

Naturally, he had the woman who saved the last bit of his fortune accompanied him. They still haven't told each other their name. The woman watched her Master silently. He appeared relaxed, with absolute confident in his victory. Once in a while, he would laughed lightly. His focus shifted from the cards to the crowd, and rested on her figure. She haven't drank a drop of the wine he had the bartender prepared for her. Her slender finger traced the outline of the cup.

A boring woman. Or was it that she was feeling empty.

Her Master stopped playing. He only took a portion of his winning and sat down next to the woman.

"Let's have a bet. Guess what I do for a living."

The woman didn't say anything at first. She just eyed him silently. She titled her head and asked: "What is your job?"

"Isn't it boring knowing the result right away?" He shifted his upper body to faced the woman directly.

The woman shook her head: "Thinking about something unknown is the most boring. Waiting is not."

"Fair enough." He said softly and drank the rest of the wine. "I am a gambler, you should know this already."

"And then?" The woman nodded.

He beckoned her with his hand and moved his face closer to her. His expression as if he was about to disclose a big secret. She also moved closer. The distance separated them was now a single glass of wine. They could even felt the other breathing on their skin. Her Master smiled mischievously.

"Nothing. I was simply fortunate enough to be born the son of a wealthy politician. The hope and dreams of the parents were put into the diligent little sister, while I was allowed to waste away doing nothing and having nothing to my name."

The woman didn't pry further. The corner of her mouth perked up: "What a coincidence. I have nothing too."

How long had they been staring into each other eyes, Caster wondered.

"Hold out your hand." He said suddenly.

She didn't ask a question nor objected, and simply did as he asked. Her Master put a one yen coin into the woman hand and whispered: "Merry Christmas."

The woman's expression did not change, but her voice was filled with interest. "A Christmas gift of one yen. This must be the most simple present I've ever received."

"But this one yen used to be my last. One yen is enough for me to conquer the world. One yen is what you saved for me. And now, it's in your hand."

The woman stared at the coin in her hand: "Do you say that to every women you meet?"

"Not every women I meet is willing to stop this one yen falling in the street for me."

It was a miracle. Was it true love or simply the flame of their lust, Caster didn't know. When both hands of the clock pointed at the number 12, the bar went quiet for an instant. Then the cheer erupted. Amidst the sound and hidden from the celebrating people, they lightly bit each other lip.

In the depth of the night, he quickly found a hotel room using his winning. The moment they went through the door, both of them gave in to their desire. Sucking on the other lips greedily, they fell on top of the white bed sheet.

"Your body is cold."

"Then warm it up."

In the end, they still didn't know the name of each other.

...

"Did I wake you up?"

Still with his arm around her, he asked and stopped singing. He had been singing that familiar tune for a while when she was still asleep. It was a tune Caster just heard earlier today. The song he used for his ringtone till today.

"It's alright."

He patted her cheek gently: "Since I didn't have anything, this is all I can give you."

"What is your name."

"Yatogami Yuzuru."

"Kiss me."

She offered her lips to him. Once again, they embraced each other tightly.

* * *

Yuzuru didn't know the reason, but Caster required a lot more sleep than a normal person, even for a child her age. Caster seemed to be flustered even when she was asleep for some reason. They were on the way back after he met at Johann's bookstore at Kanda. He didn't know whether it was because she wasn't used to sleeping in the moving car, or she was having an unpleasant dream. Either way, Caster seemed to be moving her body awkwardly in her sleep. If it weren't for the seat belt she would had fell off long ago. From her appearance to her manners, Caster was no more different than a child to him. She would sleep when she was tired and cry when she got angry. No, even when she was a Servant, she was truly just a child. Yet that same Caster had a wish for the Grail and didn't hesitate to fight to obtain it with her own hands.

"...Master, you are a debauched person."

That was uncalled for, especially when he was in a rare moment of worry for her. He still didn't know what exactly was she dreaming of, but he seemed to be there. Let's just hope there was nothing bad.

Tapping his hand on the glass to a tune, He let his mind darted back to their meeting with Johann earlier.

...

The message signified the began of the Holy Grail War had been sent to all Master, as well as the location of Johann's bookstore in Kanda. When a Master wished to forfeit the war and sought protection, they shall find it at his place. Yuzuru of course didn't have any intention to forfeit, but he headed for the bookstore nonetheless. He was supposed to head there immediately after he summoned his Servant, but looking at Johann's face once and Yuzuru understood that the other man was the type who couldn't get up before ten am. Going to Kanda in the morning was just a waste of time, so he decided to secure his base first and get rid of the catalyst Johann gave him in the process. He was a little surprised when he got to the bookstore. The interior was exactly the same as the place in Chicago. Yuzuru didn't know there were multiple places like this all over the world, or Johann just teleported the store with him wherever. Either way, he had no way to find out.

As expected, even though he tried to hide it, Johann was displeased when he showed up with Caster and not the Servant he wanted. But the both of them skirted around the issue skillfully. What he didn't expect was to hear that name got involved with the war.

"Karen..."

"Yes, miss Katerina Bright was the first to summon her Servant, Assassin."

Since Johann claimed to be the supervisor of this Holy Grail War, he had information about the Servants and their Masters to a certain degree. After Assassin, the Servants was summoned in the order of Berserker, Rider, Lancer, Saber, Caster and finally Archer. He also told Yuzuru about Berserker and Saber's Master. On the other hand, the identity of Lancer and Archer's Master remained a mystery. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the information Johann provided could help him immensely in formulating a plan for this war, as Caster was not proficient in head to head conflict.

"You have been quiet."

When he left the bookstore, he found Caster sitting down at the doorstep, playing with a stray cat.

"Who was he?"

"He claimed to be the supervisor of the Holy Grail War from the church and is cooperating with us for the moment."

"Master, did you know..." Still playing with the cat, Caster said softly. "This little one said before today, this place was just a vacant plot of land."

It was not that surprising. After all, that place was supposed to housed the book of mind for all the normal person in the world. Yuzuru even felt that it was expected for it to be teleporting around. Rather than that, he was more interested in her source of information.

"You speak cat?"

"With my skill in Animal Dialogue, all animals are no different from humans when they communicate with me. Well, the information they could convey is limited by their own intelligence and perception of course."

Caster stood up. Come to think of it, he was so absorbed that he failed to notice that Caster hadn't step her foot into Johann's bookstore even though she came with him. Compared to him who was trying to outsmarted Johann and drew more information out of him, animals might be a more reliable source of information to her while taking less effort since he didn't believe they have the concept of 'lying'.

"That place is really strange." Standing beside him, Caster continued. "It does not exist in this place entirely."

Since he had no knowledge in magecraft, he didn't have any idea what she meant by that. Caster pondered her explanation for a while.

"It's like a painting made from multiple drawings on separate piece of transparent papers. Each painting only have a part, but when you stack the whole thing onto each other you get to see the whole picture."

He could imagined it, but he still didn't understand it. Caster laughed. Her eyes was gleaming and they seemed to tell him 'Praise me'.

"Rather than these boring stuff, all you need to know is that your Servant is seriously amazing."

The childish Caster and the dependable Caster. To his surprise, Yuzuru couldn't just decide which one he would prefer more. One thing for the certain was that for the first time in a very long time, he was once again excited to have someone walked alongside him.

* * *

On the coast of Japan, February 15th, two hours after Berserker returned, the message signified the start of the Holy Grail War came to Leonardo Bistario Harwey, but her voice reading it to him sounded distance. There was only one thought currently on his mind.

Dan Blackmore and Saber. His Servant was strong, that was expected of the Saber class. The problem was that they were too well prepare. Unlike the Berserker with her one tracked mind, Leo analytical skills were impressive. From her words alone, he understood how strong Saber was. No, how both Saber and his Master were.

The fight was opened with the opening shots by Blackmore. He aimed for her head, chest, stomach and knee. All weak spots for a human being. Berserker didn't evade nor blocked the bullets because it could not harm her. So he had Saber attacked and this time Berserker was forced to block, as well as revealed the extent of her defenses. Their exchanged of blows after that was just a feint. The real move was the grenade. From that point on, Saber preferred the thrust because he realized only concentrated attacks with high precision could damage her rather than something like an explosion wave, and the attacks needed to be stronger than the pieces of the grenade as well.

Then why did Saber used the slash when Berserker was in the air and suffered damaged to his shoulder as a result. Leo could think of several reasons, but what he most afraid of was that Saber used it and expected to be counterattacked. They moved to a higher point and forced Berserker to jump. Then Saber risked it to test Berserker's eye hand coordination as well as her instantaneous reaction speed. It was hard to push someone like Berserker to her limit when she had her feet on the ground, but in the air it was a different story.

And his next attacks were the most successful. Not only did it damaged Berserker, but it showed that it was capable of being a fatal one had she not defended herself. They confirmed Berserker did not have any kind of invulnerability nor immortality she could count on. Because she had constantly caught the sword and risked damage to incapacitate Saber before, but she retreated that time. Saber found out Berserker's speed and endurance just like that. He must have been a hero acquainted to battle.

No, even that was an understatement. Leo was certain Saber was a famous hero. None of his actions were meaningless. Through that short skirmish Berserker had been exploited from the start to finish. Of course, it could be that he was too much of a worrywart and Saber did it purely on impulse, but the long years of being a cripple had taught Leo one thing. And that was the worst possibility will always came true.

It was a good thing that he called Berserker back when he felt she was about to unleashed her Noble Phantasm after all. Against armed enemies such as Saber, it could served as a trump card. But in order to win he needed her to use it to disarm Saber at the most opportune moment and went in for the kill, not carelessly somewhere he was not present.

But right now, it was not the time for action, but rather contemplation. Their fight played back again and again in Leo's head. Saber was a famous hero. He needed to figure out that hero's identity. Because he understood what kind of man Dan Blackmore was. He will not sit and wait for Leo to come to him, he will come here to finish his job he failed years ago.

The Holy Grail could grant him a new body, but his soul could only be healed when these eyes stared at the moment of Dan Blackmore dying breath.

* * *

"Finished."

Caster muttered as she took out a pocket watch. Constructing a workshop this way took more time than she expected and even though she started right after they went back, it was still already a little past ten. But it was surely impregnable no matter how she looked at it. She was even abled to put in some little touches to go along with her Master's mischief. All in all, she did more than satisfactory. If they were to rely on the defenses of this workshop for the duration of the war, Caster had no doubt that she would be able to keep herself and her Master safe until the end with relative ease. However, this was nothing more than a strategic base and their last resort. Rather than being holed up in a safe place as a king, Caster preferred to move around the board as a queen. Fortunately her Master shared the same sentiment as well.

Quickening her pace, she ran to where her Master was. In this workshop, any and everything was under her constant surveillance. He was reading, no, looking at a notebook with a cute picture of a bear on the cover in his room. She tried to suppressed the urge to giggle. Something that cute did not suit him at all.

For some reason, he never failed to notice Caster when she approached. Was he wary of her, or was he paying special attentions to her. At the moment, Caster did not have the mean to confirm or deny any possibility. But it did not matter. If he paid attention to her, that mean he cared and if he was wary of her, then she only needed to make it not so anymore. Caster was always someone who was able to see the wonders of the world and those lived in it, despite them not seeing it themselves.

"This is empty." Her Master showed her the empty pages he was just staring at.

"Naturally, since I don't know the content."

Yes. In order to perfected this workshop, Caster had spent her time going around their place, memorizing every little details. But there was no way she could replicate something he kept in his room which she had no knowledge of. But now that she saw him, there was an incline about the content. She had saw her Master various expression, both in real life and in her dream. The only time he had such nostalgic expression was something related to his family. Her Master didn't talk about them to her once, but just from they way he talked to his sister, Caster understood that he treasured them greatly. Even though his feeling might not be mutual.

Caster was thankful she transformed into her extravagant self. It would be pretty awkward for her to act like this in her original form. She looked at her Master and declared selfishly, as if she didn't care about his feeling.

"That didn't matter. What's you should be doing right now is giving me my reward for a job well done."

Her Master laughed and put down the notebook. Caster had already suspected it when he let her sleep freely in the car earlier today. Her Master was definitely the type who will spoil his daughter rotten if he had one.

...

Even though it had already eleven pm, the shopping mall they passed was still bustling with activities. But their destination wasn't them. He led her to a small store in a back alley. The door was so small that the two of them could not go in at the same time. It was not the place Caster imagined when her master said he knew a good place for high quality book. No, the words 'high quality' should not be in the same sentence with this store in the first place. Caster squinted her eyes and looked at the signed, ravaged by time and environment.

"...Uncle Tom's cabin?"

"I know how you feel, but it's uncle Tom's bookstore." Her Master pushed the door open and walked inside. Having no other choice, she had to follow him reluctantly.

From the naming sense alone, she already felt that this place was bad news, in some way or another. However, the inside of the store was better than she expected. The bookshelves were organized neatly and the temperature and humidity was controlled by machines. The old man behind the counter noticed them and looked at. He frowned when he saw her Master.

"You still owe me." Caster's eyes widen when she heard her Master words. It was not the words of a customers and the tone sound more like a loan shark. Yet he said it with familiarity. Master was surely a bad person.

The two man ignored her fantasies and continued.

"Money." The owner did not lose to her Master in spirit. He said one word but he had already conveyed enough. Now she did not know who was owing what anymore.

"Where's the goods?"

"Hardback. Original print. With a copy of the author signature." The owner pushed a small package forward. It was her supposed reward for the workshop. But she did not feel good receiving it after she listened to this conversation at all.

"Wrap it for me."

They went in, demanded the book, paid and left in less than three minutes. The whole thing left Caster flabbergasted.

"Master, was that some kind of forbidden book or it was just a code for something else?"

"Of course it was a book. Didn't you see?"

"There was everything wrong with what I saw."

"Don't worry. It was something you really really like. Try not to open it in public though."

His Master gave her a meaningful smile. A thought hit Caster's mind. It was that, wasn't it. That was definitely a dirty book. Caster stared at the wrapping. But when they went out of the back alley, there was something else that caught her eyes. She pointed at that place and requested her Master to take her there.

* * *

"Did your animal friend tell you about this?" Yuzuru looked at the scenery around the bar Caster wanted to go to. He knew this place.

"You should know this, right. This was the place you deceived miss Katerina." Caster clutched the book tightly. Since she walked in front of him, it was hard to make out her expression. But he could tell that the existence of the book had left Caster's mind.

"Call it the place we first met. The way you said it make it sound like I took advantage of her or something."

Brown color vegetables and beefs soup. A plate with pieces of bread dyed with the smell of honey. A small jar of fruit jam. Caster ordered all of them and was eating happily. Come to think of it, he didn't have dinner either. But he was more curious about how did Caster learn of this place and Karen's name. However, Caster realized she had the advantages and was the one leading him around this time.

"Master, asking about another woman while on a date with me is not allowed."

"Since when did I need your permission? Also, we are on a date?"

"A man and a woman goes out together this late at night, and now sharing a table at this kind of questionable place, don't you think it's a date? Or it doesn't count unless it end in the bed like with miss Katerina?"

Yuzuru surrendered. For some reason Caster knew about everything. When he questioned her further, Caster let her displeased showed clearly. With no other choice, he agreed to go along with her whims for now, with the promise that she told him everything when they got home later. The topic ended for now as Caster masterfully changed the subject and he could finally relaxed.

"If you don't like this place, you could always treat me to the tiramisu and rainbow spongecake at Elandi's. The little ones all recommended that place."

Being able to talk to animals sure was convenient. Not only could she established a surveillance network, they already taught her some pretty useless things. Even though he thought that, he still made a mental note regarding what kind of sweets Caster liked.

"Give me a break. That place must have use gold for their flour with the price they're going with."

"Nothing less than sweets at Bendaru's can pleased me." Caster declared triumphantly, her fist raised in the air.

"Instead of gold it's silver this time. Are there any difference? I ask you, are there really any difference?"

Emptied his drink, Yuzuru continued: "And beside, aren't you eating an affordable meal just fine."

Caster looked straight into his eyes: "Because I could taste the happiness in these simple things."

"The perverted literature girl is unexpectedly romantic."

Her dreamy gaze turned into a glared for a quick second, but it quickly vanished and continued in a pompous tone: "These people, sitting in this small bar after a day of hard work with their friends. They can laugh loudly, drink freely. No matter what era or what country, to the common populace, this is happiness."

Caster spread her arms wide, as if trying to hug the whole scenery into her heart. Around them were the sound of the people laughing, shouting, getting angry. The faint smell of alcohol tickled his nostril. Yes, there was a time he enjoyed these little things too.

"See, Master. The world around you is lively. You don't have to pay attention to only the woman sitting there in the past."

There was a small commotion at the table next to him. Dispute over a gamble. Driven by the alcohol, it turned into a small scuffle. A man got punched straight in the nose and fell down no more than two meters away from Caster. He opened his eyes and just happened to see she winked at him playfully. Perhaps wanting to showed her his manly spirit, he got up just to be put down again by a bottle swung from behind into the back of his head.

Yuzuru turned back to Caster and lightly raised his cup: "I see. You made a good point."

Their glasses made a sound hitting against each other. Only until now Yuzuru noticed that he had been so caught up by the topic of Karen that he didn't notice Caster sneakily ordered the same type of drink as him. They were alcoholic. But she emptied her glass before he could say anything and urged him to do the same.

"It taste good." Perhaps it was the first time Caster drink alcohol that way, the blood quickly rushed to her face and dyed her cheeks with a red tinge. "Charles also liked places like this. He brought me to these kind of place all the time and tell me to enjoy myself."

That was a crime. That was definitely a crime wasn't it. What was that guy thinking letting a small girl into a bar drinking. Was that also the reason for her perversion. Truly family education were the origin of all depravity. Yuzuru could feel millions thought crossed his head all at once. And as a result, he couldn't form a reply to that shocking statement. That was not the only reason. Perhaps the real reason he was rendered speechless was Caster's expression. It was something he had seen before on a different woman. It was the expression of someone remembering their past love.

Letting the girl remembered a man in the past while they were on a date was the fault on the man's side. Since he promised Caster that he would go along with her and treated this as a date, Yuzuru began to think of ways to cheer her up.

In the end, he had no choice but to relied on the same old trick. He pulled out two dice cups from under the table with a few dice inside them. Thankfully the owner still left them at the same place. The customers are free to use them however they liked was one of the good things about this place.

"Want to play?"

"Yes. But you'll have to teach me the rule."

"We are just playing for fun." Yuzuru said words someone with 'gambling' in his title would never even thought of. "Let's keep it simple and see who get higher, no, that would be too easy. Lower score wins should be better."

"In other words, six one... No." Caster looked at the dice in the cup for two seconds and muttered. "The lowest possible should be the dice stacked onto each other for a total score of one."

Yuzuru laughed without saying anything. Women who were too sharp when playing games on a date was not cute at all, but he could let this one slide as long as Caster enjoyed herself.

"Then what should we wager?"

"Didn't I just said we are playing for fun? The number of time I lost a gamble could be count on one hand you know."

"But the risk makes it fun."

Yuzuru considered for a second. Well, she did ask for it herself so there was no need to hold back. He flashed a mischievous smile: "Then if I win, I get to kiss you. If you win, you get to kiss me. That's fair right."

"Master is an opportunistic person after all." Caster giggled. "It sound good, but the girl should be playing hard to get on a date. Reward you with a kiss if you win is fine, but if you lost, you have to stand on the table and said loudly 'I'm a M looking for male S to train me'."

"The risk against me get so high all a sudden. Also, I though you were just a regular pervert before, but you sure have a heavy taste aren't you?"

"I'll go first." Caster didn't give him the time to retort her and shook the dice cup. With her eyes closed, she put her ear against the cup, listened to the smallest of impact of the dice inside. At first he thought his eyes was playing tricks on him, but now he was certain her golden hair was giving off a faint light and fluttered as if there were a wind blowing through them.

This girl, not to mention her cheating level physical specs, she was even using her magic just to win the game against him. She kept rolling for a few minutes, until she found out the center of gravity of every single die inside the cup. She looked at him and smiled provokingly and slammed the cup down to the table. Caster raised the cup up slowly with an excited gaze but Yuzuru had already knew the result from the sound alone. Just as he thought, inside the cup was a straight tower, with the red dot facing the top.

"Best you can do is a draw." The smile in front of him was one belonged to a sly fox.

Yuzuru shrugged as he rolled the cup halfheartedly once. He raised it up to reveal the score before Caster's eyes and spread his free hand wide. There was no dice to be seen anywhere.

"Zero point. I won."

"...Dirty." Caster gritted her teeth.

"You used magic to roll but I'm not allowed to pull some trick?" Yuzuru tapped the table with his finger and leaned in closer. "Accept your loss and payed up."

Caster instinctively reached for her lips. Of course, seeing how flustered she was, Yuzuru didn't intent to push her too far. But it was also no fun letting her off after she tried to pull one over him too easily. However, a savior appeared out of nowhere in the form of a cat and snuggled close to her leg. Since he didn't recall the owner had a pet, the cat must had snuck in. Caster secretly picked it up and used her body to shield it from the eyes of others. Then she started 'nyaa'-ing. It was a surreal sight. Finished 'talking' to the cat, she put it down and it quickly disappeared. When Caster looked at him, it was not the look of the girl he spent the evening with, but a Servant discussing the battle.

"There are two Servants close by. One could be seen alongside the Master, but just from the animals description it's impossible to guess her class. As for the other one, they were tracking the first pair silently as well as shooting down the surveillance. Since they are quite adept at hiding and sneak attack, it's probably Assassin."

Assassin. Karen's Servant. Judging from her personality, she must had been close by also. As for the other Servant, they could be either Lancer or Archer from the process of elimination. These two alongside with Saber were considered the Knight classes and possessed high magic resistance, making them a bad match up for Caster. In other words, direct confrontation was out of the question. A plan started to form in Yuzuru's mind.

"Aside from territory construction, you can make items and drugs also right?"

Caster nodded and waited for his next words. After hearing his plan, she ceased her excitement and looked at him in displeasure.

"Not letting me take the central stage as the main heroine and still want me to work. Master is a bad Master that doesn't understand anything at all."

"...Are you the number one princess in the world? Do you want me to notice your hairstyle and do something if your right hand is absent? Playing around is fine but we still have a war to fight you know."

It was not a reprimand toward Caster since he liked it as well, but the conservation of resources in a war was still a valid point to consider, hence he said it in a half joking tone. Caster noticed it as well and pretended to blush while looking away.

"Number one... Even if it's the truth, you shouldn't said it so straightforwardly. I'll be embarrassed."

He lost completely. Yuzuru was confident in his ability to use words against his opponents but no matter what he did regarding this topic, Caster always found away to spin it to her benefits. Caster leaned forward and presented her head to him. It was not hard for him to guess she wanted him to pat her head as a reward as well as front payment for the work he entrusted to her. Caster seemed to enjoy it as she closed her eyes lightly, her hands curled up to make a fist and a small 'nyaa' escaped from her mouth. Hey, did you talked with the animals too much that you became a cat yourself. Cat ears and tail might suit her, but Yuzuru was smart enough not to say that out loud.

"A mutual destruction would be the best, but in any case, I'll leave the backup and escape route to you."

This was how they were going to fight as Master and Servant in this war. Playing around with each other selfish whims, putting their trust into the other abilities and seizing victory together.

* * *

The soul. It was either a mysterious phenomenon or the creator's most prided achievement. Any and all thing, from the moment they were born until the moment their soul returned to the cycle, or Akasha as the magus called it, the information encompassed all of their life existed in the soul. Naturally, the information about ESP was included.

A lot of people thought of rare and dramatic powers like in stories when they heard of ESP, but thanks to her eyes, Koreyume knew that it was not the case. ESP came in all shaped or form, and while not everyone had them, they were not as uncommon as one would imagined. Also, most of them were incredibly mundane. For example, one of her classmate in high school had the ability to 'never fall down the stair'. The people like him never had a chance to find out about their ESP, and spent the rest of their life as a normal person. Maybe they were. After all, if you were careful with your steps you don't need ESP to never fell down the stairs.

It was the main reason why she was so trusting and opened up herself towards Lancer. Since Servant existed as a spiritual being, and with the connections between the two of them as Master and Servant, Koreyume was moved by the concern and affections Lancer's soul expressed towards her Master even though they were just met. Under the smile of that fairy like beauty was her indomitable spirit of loyalty towards those she served. It was not blind following as Lancer was willing to correct Koreyume should she went down to the wrong path, but it was something much more precious.

Today too, she used her mystic eyes to observed the souls of the people in the room. Most of the soul was shinning brightly, maybe it was the resilience of their youth. People who dedicated six years of their youth to education for their dream. It was one thing to dream, but putting the work was never easy. Their determination, perseverance and patience was something worthy of respect. Even though they were currently arguing with each other for something as trivial as the festival.

Normally she wouldn't spy on others like this, as it would be terrible if she got absorbed and missed someone called out to her or important point of the meeting, but now she had Lancer to pay attention to her, so she should be allowed to slack off once in a while right. After all, it was boring to wait. The sound of the bell never signified the start of the meeting, it was something Koreyume learned from her experience at the campus.

"What are they arguing about, Master?" She heard Lancer's voice in her head. Of course she couldn't let Lancer just showed up alongside her no matter how much she wanted to, so Lancer was currently in spirit form.

Even though Koreyume was blind to the way of politics, she could answer Lancer's question based on her past experience: "The festival is organized by the student council, the sport clubs and the cultural clubs. The student council are the one with official authority, the sport clubs have the most manpower but are not uniformed due to competition, contrary to the cultural clubs which generally get along well with each other."

Koreyume smiled wryly, as if to say _'Why can't they just get along?'_ and continued.

"The sport and cultural clubs doesn't like each other so they're competing for the good spot and time slot. The student council claimed to be neutral, but they wanted to use their authority to further their own agenda."

Lancer was silent at first. Koreyume thought she didn't interest in these kind of topics but she replied in a low voice: "Politics, huh... Someone once told me that wherever there's more than one human in the same place, there will be politics involve. I understand that it's hard to find a solution to satisfied everyone, but..."

Lancer trailed off. She didn't say anything more, but Koreyume understood. People trampled on each other wishes just to further their own. Now that she thought about it, wasn't the Holy Grail War essentially of the same nature. It's a sad sight. Even though it was something supposed to give people hope and made their wish came true, the fact that it existed alone was enough for humans to fight each other over it. But thinking about those things was of no use to her now. Koreyume shook her head.

...

Aside from the news, Koreyume rarely used the television for anything else. On the contrary, she remembered her mother enjoyed watching movies. Her favorite was the one titled 'Roman Holiday', as she had made Koreyume watched it with her on numerous occasions. Koreyume didn't remember much of the detail, but she recalled the movie's atmosphere carried an air of softness and elegance. An alluring pink colored love story. Having escaped the meeting for the festival, they were not currently being chased by men in black, neither was Koreyume a princess nor Lancer a reporter. Even so, walking side by side with Lancer, she felt that this situation and the one in the movie was not that different. At least in spirit.

They were on their way home from a large shopping mall mainly for Lancer's daily necessities, and Koreyume wanted to do her own shopping as well. Lancer didn't express her interest in the matter, but she didn't object either. Even though the war had officially started, neither Koreyume nor Lancer felt any particular tension at the dark and empty street late at night. Koreyume didn't intent to let the fear of battle influenced her decision in any ways, it was for that reason that she still had the mind to come to the meeting for the festival today. Speaking of which...

"Can Servant detect other Servants?" Other Servants were not as likely as them to walk brazenly in the open like this, but she was still curious.

"We can. Just as magus can detects each other due to magical energy, Servant can detect each other."

A good magus can detect another good magus but may fail to detect a third rate one, it seemed that Servant operated on the same principle. Since they were all masses of magical energy given form, it was hard for them to miss each other. Lancer smiled wryly.

"I'm not confident in my magical energy though, so I won't know a Servant approaching unless I see them with my own eyes. While someone specialized in magic like Caster might be able to sense even the current location of all the Servants in the city." Then, as if to reassured her, Lancer added. "Don't worry, it was not because you are insufficient as a Master, my aptitude for magic is just naturally impaired."

 _Even though you are a magical being right now_. Koreyume giggled to herself. She had asked that question considering it to be pointless chatter, while she was interested in what Lancer revealed about herself. This made Koreyume realized that she was interested in Lancer as a person, and not a simple Servant fighting the war for her. It also reminded her she didn't know what Lancer's wish was. The reason for Lancer fighting in the Holy Grail War. Koreyume was hesitated to voice this one question. But she opened herself up to Lancer, so she wished for Lancer to be able to do the same to her. Lancer might not willing to answer it if she asked it straight away, but Koreyume might be able to ease her into it.

"Even when you were alive?"

"I'm just a small little girl who dedicated her life for fighting." Lancer smiled. Looking at her now, Koreyume certainly couldn't imagine the time when she was 'a small little girl'. "There are a lot of things I don't understand."

She remembered. Lancer was oblivious to the politics surrounding the festival earlier too. One could argue that those thing weren't needed for a Servant. But still...

"It's kinda sad." The fact that someone like her had to spent her life ravaged by the flame of war. And now she was summoned to serve Koreyume's selfish whims and once again forced to fight to fulfill the wish of another person.

"You don't need to worry. Lord Liu Bei treated me well. I am respected by others. The war didn't change how my life end, it merely changed the road I traveled."

Zhao Yun didn't die on the battlefield as many generals at the time, but rather she passed away quietly in the bed due to an illness. Did she wish to change that fate then. Koreyume finally decided to steel herself and asked the question that had been constantly on her mind since just now. When she heard it, Lancer turned away. Koreyume thought she wasn't going to answer the question and just as she was about to say 'sorry', she heard Lancer's voice. It was the same gentle and melancholic voice she used to talk about her teacher.

"Master, where are we in this world? Where was I when I was alive?" Lancer looked up at the sky above. Since they were in the city, it was hard to see the clear sky and stars. But the vibration of Lancer's soul told Koreyume that she was looking at a different sight. Perhaps she was looking at the sky she and her comrades once all saw. "The cloud may seem free looking from below, but it had to depends on the wind to carry it. Me, lord Liu Bei, you and perhaps everyone around us, we're the same as the clouds."

She turned towards Koreyume. Contrary to her expectations, Lancer's expression was serene: "I've won many battles. The me standing here is someone who conquered all adversaries. The territories I claimed for my lord stretched over the horizon. But in the end, it didn't matter at all. The only thing left behind when this life perished was just a small pile of bone in a tiny grave. A peaceful death or losing my life in battle were the same."

Koreyume was stunned by the sheer nihilism in Lancer' words. Even if she heard it directly from Lancer, she just couldn't believe that the Lancer who comforted her and the Lancer who said these things were the same person. Noticed this, Lancer grasped her hand and pulled her forward with a smile.

"However I was blessed to have met people with eyes that could see and understand there is a meaning beyond death, and there is hope. Not once, but twice. But the one I knew when I was alive suffered a sorrowful fate and burdened with countless responsibilities. In the end, she ended her life cursing the world around her." Lancer said with quiet resolve. "My wish, no, my childish dream as a girl had always been the same. To help the clouds move on not bothered by their circumstances. So that one day you will be able to look back at your life and said 'I am happy'."

Koreyume could felt it all. What Lancer determined to be the meaning of her life. Her reason for existence and her wish. It was the crystallization of Lancer's deep loyalty and affection. And she felt that she should answer in kind. She already knew what she needed to do in this situation. The small gesture that Lancer did that made her immensely happy. This time, she was the one to embraced Lancer. She was a little taken back at first, but returned the embrace shortly. Koreyume was thankful for the street being empty late at night, because the sight of two woman hugging each other in the open was certainly turned some heads. But even then it would not stop her from doing this.

Due to her heightened emotions, Koreyume was slow to notice. The sound of footstep approaching. The pace of the unknown person slow down when it came closer to their position. The owner of the footstep seemed to be interested in this scene. Embarrassed, they moved a little further to each other than usual. Koreyume looked up at the other person with an apologetic smile. It was a young man who looked to be around thirty years old. Even though he was relatively good looking, she was a little taken back by the vibe he carried. He would be perfect to play the role of the cold blooded serial killer in old detective movies. Even so, the man didn't continue moving.

"Assassin had been following you two."

His words were not much louder than a whisper, but it was more than enough to spark the flame of battle.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** It's a little ironic to say that after that last scene, but due to personal circumstance on my end there won't be a chapter next week. I'm terribly sorry.

In the mean time, I'd love to hear what you think about the story and characters so far. What you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see in future chapters. Anything at all. I'll be looking forward to reading them when I returned the week after.

See you next chapter.


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